New Beginnings
by ThePandalien
Summary: With an impossibly fast man, a pair of glasses with the power to rule the world, and a mysterious Russian with the ability to change faces on a whim, starting college and dealing with his exposed identity as Spider-man are the least of Peter Parker's worries. Nonetheless, he must learn to move forward and begin anew, and so must a certain red-headed speedster. Spoilers for FFH.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: All the characters, names, and incidents portrayed here are strictly fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) is intended or should be inferred.

-Pandalien

P.S. Spoilers for _Spider-Man: Far From Home_ and YJ up through season 2. You have been warned.

**Prologue**

Heroes didn't live long. Falling victim to potentially world ending cataclysms was an occupational hazard. The only way to avoid that was to retire young, and never go back.

_Artemis is gonna kill me._

But that was the thing about being a hero. There was always some potentially world ending cataclysm to stop and the kind of person who could be a hero once, just wouldn't be able to stop. The next time the world needed saving and there were just too few people to save it, they'd feel compelled to jump in and do it themselves. Once a hero, always a hero.

And that was why Wally West died on June 20, 2016, at approximately 13:48 UTC… Or at least that's what Wally, and everyone else, thought as he felt the painful blasts from the MFD dissolve his speeding form.

Not a moment later though, Wally realized he hadn't, in fact, died. Or at the very least he didn't _feel_ dead. But he did feel disoriented, like he had just been on a super-fast carousel while being broken down and put back together, which was actually a fairly accurate description of what had just happened. As such, Wally lost his footing and found himself flying through the air faster than even _he_ had any right to be going. He landed in a snowdrift and skidded to a halt along the ice.

Wally pushed himself off the ground and looked about him. There was no doubt that he was still in the Arctic but if he had to guess, he'd gone quite a ways from where he'd started.

_Gotta go back, they might still need me._

Wally took off back in the direction he'd come, only to find that he was once again going faster than he had any right to be. As a result, he overshot.

_That was weird._

Wally gave it another go and this time he didn't overshoot and he arrived where the MFD and his uncle and cousin were. At least that was where they were _supposed _to be. Something wasn't right. He wasn't too sure about Bart, he hadn't known him for very long after all, but he was pretty sure his future first cousin once removed wouldn't just leave him at the North Pole to freeze to death and he was _certain_ that his uncle wouldn't. There was also the matter of the missing MFD. Wally looked around looking for clues as to what had happened but the only signs of life he saw were the drifts of snow he'd churned up from his running.

Wally activated the scanning capabilities of his goggles to try and get more information only to find that there was nothing else to find. No signs of the MFD, no signs of Barry or Bart. Wally then tried his communicator, only to get static on the other end. That was when Wally noticed something else was wrong. Supposedly, from a purely geographic perspective, he was in exactly the same spot where the MFD had been, and where magnetic north _should_ be. Only it wasn't there. Magnetic north seemed to be much closer to true north than he remembered.

_Okay Wall-man, stay whelmed. There's gotta be another explanation. There's no way you're in another universe. The odds of there being multiple realities are… Can't think of that. The only way to find out what's going on is to get back to civilization._

That was when Wally finally noticed that his suit wasn't in exactly the best shape. It may have been friction resistant, but however fast he'd been going had been enough to cause it to wear faster than it normally would.

_Another unexplained phenomenon._

Making up his mind to get back home as fast as possible, Wally took off south at top speed, hoping against hope that his hunch was wrong. That he'd soon find himself back in Central City with Artemis waiting there to kill him for being so reckless.

He would find himself sorely disappointed.


	2. Chapter 1

**The Trial of Spider-man**

Peter was a ball of nerves. He couldn't stop fidgeting which only made the people guarding him nervous as well. Of course he couldn't blame them, given what they knew about spider-man, his strength, his agility, his reflexes… his identity. But it was more than just that he'd been outed that made people nervous to be around him. It was what he'd been accused of at the same time that got people, and every time he thought back to J.J. Jameson's announcement that day in New York, and all the events that had led to that, it just made him even more nervous which caused him to fidget more which made the guards more nervous which—

"Calm down kid." Peter stopped fidgeting at the sound of Happy's voice. "You're gonna be fine. There's no way they'll convict you."

"Don't give him false hope Mr. Hogan." That was Peter's lawyer or barrister or whatever they were called in England. Peter looked over to her. They were still in the middle of recess and they had one witness left to go. When Alice, his lawyer, had said that if this last one didn't blow the case out of the water for them then she'd give up her career in law, she'd sounded so confident. Peter had been sure she'd be able to get him out of this, at least the legal part. What came after… Well, Happy had just told him to take it one step at a time.

But now it was looking less and less like there would be an "after". Despite the string of witnesses Alice had presented all proclaiming Peter's innocence, people who'd watched him during the "Battle of London" as it was being called, even with Alice's arguments pointing out the inconsistencies in the narrative presented by that video with what people witnessed of the battle, things were looking down.

The prosecution had dismissed several of the defense witnesses, including Happy, MJ, Ned, Betty, and even Flash Thompson, something that thoroughly surprised Peter, as either having a clear conflict of interest or else being immaterial due to their lack of knowledge about the actual events. The jury had seemed to buy it. The arguments about the veracity of the video were also waved away as being based on unreliable witnesses who had themselves admitted to being so panicked that they weren't clear on all the details.

_It's not like I helped things either._

If he was being honest, his own testimony really _had_ sounded like he was trying to make stuff up just to avoid being convicted.

Upon seeing the defeated look on Peter's face, Alice's manner softened somewhat. "There's still one more witness who says he saw the whole thing," she said, trying to comfort him. "There's still a chance." She turned back to Happy then. "It's just not as certain as Mr. Hogan would like to believe."

"Look lady, I know Mrs. Stark hired you herself but the kid's just had his world turned upside down, _again_. He could use a little hope."

"Not if it's false," Alice replied sternly. "We have to be realistic, any false hope would only be cruel." There was a moment of tense silence before Alice spoke again. "We should be going back, the recess is almost over."

The courtroom gallery was filled with press. The judge had originally not wanted to have anyone else present but he had eventually been persuaded otherwise. The whole world was interested in the case of Spider-man, the boy from Queens. Peter had been worried at first, but Alice had said it would be good. If he was exonerated behind closed doors, and only those who'd been in court knew what had really happened, then he'd still have to fight in the court of public opinion. Nestled among the reporters, Peter could see his friends and Aunt May. Even though they were clearly as worried as he was, they still tried to put on a brave front and gave him reassuring smiles for which, Peter was thankful.

Soon, the trial had resumed and the moment of truth was upon him. A young man with short, unkempt hair that stuck up from his head took the stand. He was dressed very plainly and for all his appearance, seemed very ordinary and unassuming. But this was the man who was supposed to be their ace in the hole. Their proton torpedo to blow up the Death Star.

Alice stood to cross examine him and he gave his account of what happened that day. How he'd actually been there on the bridge, how he'd witnessed everything. How Beck had controlled the drones to attack and create illusions, how he'd tried to kill Peter several times, how Peter had taken back the EDITH glasses and shut down the drones. It matched perfectly with what Peter had testified. There was only one problem. Peter knew that the prosecution would try to make it seem like they'd manufactured the witness. Then he'd look even worse.

Only, that wasn't what happened. Peter suddenly realized what he'd heard Alice ask the witness. "And, Mr. West, do you have any proof that this was what happened other than your own word?"

"I do ma'am," he replied respectfully. "I recorded everything on my phone from where I was hidden."

"I refer the jury to the video evidence marked WW1," Alice said. Shortly after the screen in the courtroom blinked on and Peter was taken back to that day on the bridge, though this time he watched from a different perspective. This time he watched from outside the illusion, though some fragments of the hologram were still captured by the phone camera. When the video finally finished, Peter felt a sense of relief wash over him. There was no way they could convict him now. That relief only grew as the prosecution took their go at the witness with very little success.

Soon after the verdict of "not guilty" had been given, Peter found himself trying to push through a throng of reporters, all jamming cameras and microphones and smartphones in his face. All trying to get a statement. As he felt the walls closing in around him, Peter wanted nothing more than to just leap over the mob and toward the car where he knew Happy and Aunt May were waiting for him. But he kept his cool. It wouldn't look good if he did that right after his exoneration. So he soldiered on, declining to comment as politely as he could and steadily making his way to the street.

When he thought he'd made it at last, he found his path blocked by just one more reporter who unceremoniously shoved her phone in his face. "Care to comment Mr. Parker on the results of the trial? What will you do now that you've been outed as Spider-man?"

Peter suppressed a sigh with moderate success. "Look, miss, I really just wanna go home—"

"Peter." His Aunt May's voice drew his attention and, thankfully, gave him the perfect excuse to leave.

"I'm sorry," he said not feeling sorry at all. "That's my Aunt May, she's calling for me." With that Peter dashed away before the reporter could ask anything else and Peter soon found himself seated comfortably in the backseat of a cab headed for the hotel Aunt May and his friends had been staying at. As soon as the vehicle began to move and they were safely away from the press, Aunt May pulled Peter into a relieved embrace which Peter couldn't help but return.

_Okay, don't cry Peter, don't cry._

But as soon as he realized Aunt May was already crying, he couldn't stop himself and soon the waterworks were flowing. From the other side of Aunt May, Happy spoke up. "See, what'd I tell you kid. I told you it'd turn out alright."

Peter pulled away to look at the Stark Industries head of security and gave a slight nod as he sniffled somewhat, wiping the moisture from his now red eyes. The rest of the way to the hotel was spent in companionable silence and when they arrived, Peter found Ned and MJ waiting for them in the lobby.

Ned came up to him first and pulled him into a bro-hug. "Good to have you back man."

"I didn't go anywhere, Ned," Peter replied, though not harshly, as he reciprocated.

"Just to jail, in England. Possibly for the rest of your life."

Peter looked up at MJ's remark and couldn't help but smile. Even after everything, she was still the same old MJ, snarky as ever. After an awkward moment the two of them hugged each other as well. "Well," Peter said, pulling his head back so their foreheads rested against one another. "It's not like I haven't been in jail before."

MJ actually laughed at that before replying. "A drunk tank in the Netherlands doesn't count."

"Okay everybody," Happy interrupted, drawing everyone's attention. "I know this is a big deal and everyone's back together so why don't we celebrate with dinner." They soon found themselves in the hotel restaurant, eating and laughing, and it was almost like nothing had happened.

"You should have seen it," Ned was saying. "Flash like this, total mental breakdown when he found out you were Spider-man."

"Really?" Peter asked. He was still kind of surprised Flash had agreed to testify for the defense.

"Yeah, and you know how he's always posting stupid stuff on social media?" MJ added. "Well, when he finally got it together he kind of started a movement."

"#FreeSpiderman," Ned put in.

Now that was surprising. Peter hadn't really known what was going on outside his high security prison cell. His contact with the outside had been pretty limited. It had really just been Alice who'd been allowed to see him until the trial actually started and even then she'd been pretty closely watched herself.

"Here, I'll show you." Ned pulled out his phone and showed Peter a screen displaying one of Flash's many posts. This one relayed a 6ejco video analysis comparing various clips from the Battle of London with the footage that had been aired by the Daily Bugle two months ago. The comment read, "This proves the Mysterio footage is fake and JJ is a hack!" Below the post was a fervent back and forth between the pro-Spider-man posters and everyone who thought he was guilty. Most of the comments were from Flash and Jameson himself. What really surprised Peter was how many people had actually been on _his_ side.

Dinner continued cheerfully, with Peter and MJ furtively stealing glances at each other, until Alice made an unexpected appearance. "Alice," Aunt May said, standing up. "Thank you _so_ much, I don't know what we would have done without you, and that last witness. If you could thank Mr. West for us too—"

"There's no need to thank me Mrs. Parker," Alice interrupted. "Mrs. Stark is doing that by paying me." Alice didn't seem to notice the taken aback and somewhat hurt look on Aunt May's face. Instead, the lawyer continued on. "In any case, we're not done yet. We still have to consider next steps, what comes _after_ the trial."

"If you're talking about the kid's identity being outed—"

"Actually I was referring to EDITH, specifically," Alice said, interrupting Happy. "It's still being held as evidence by the crown and given the nature of this evidence, there may be some difficulties in recovering it. It's likely military intelligence will be attempting to obtain control of it so we need to discuss how we plan to respond."

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Peter realized that Alice had been talking straight to him and that she expected an answer. "Um, yeah… How about tomorrow morning."

Alice didn't look happy with the suggestion but it did seem like she understood. "Very well, though sooner would be better Mr. Parker. If we can be proactive it gives us a better chance of recovering EDITH" With that, Alice turned and left and the conversation resumed.

The problem was, Peter didn't feel much like talking anymore. Alice had brought up the elephant in the room. He'd kept it at the back of his mind ever since Happy had told him to take things one step at a time. It wasn't just getting EDITH back. It was what he'd do now that everyone knew who he was. It hadn't seemed to be a problem for Mr. Stark, but then again, Mr. Stark was a billionaire. He could afford to protect himself and his loved ones from his enemies. Peter, on the other hand… Well, he was just a boy from Queens.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed guys," Peter said at last, excusing himself from the table.

"Okay. Good night, Peter."

"Good night, May," Peter replied. He bid everyone else good night and went up to his hotel room. He lay on his bed for several minutes before deciding that he just couldn't sleep and so he climbed out his window and up to the roof of the hotel. Out of habit he'd gone looking for his suit so he could conceal his identity, but then he remembered that that was evidence too and, there really wasn't much point in wearing a mask anymore.

There Peter sat, gazing out at the lights of London, the wind ruffling his hair, his feet dangling off the edge of the building. A million thoughts raced through his mind as he did so, but his musing was interrupted by the sound of the roof door opening behind him. He turned around to see MJ walking toward him. "Ned said you weren't answering your door so I figured you'd be up here." MJ sat down next to him and gazed out at the city for a little while before turning to face him. "So what's up?" she asked.

Peter met her eyes before laying back against the concrete of the hotel room. "I just…" Peter sighed. He was frustrated that he couldn't find the words to describe what he was going through just now.

"You're worried about what happens now that everyone knows you're Spider-man."

"Yes," Peter replied with some exasperation. "And EDITH and… I know I should be thankful and relieved that I got through the trial alright but I can't stop thinking about what comes next."

There was a moment of silence before MJ said, "Neither can I."

Peter sat up and faced her again.

_What did that mean?_

"Do you still…"

"Do I still what?" Peter asked. Peter noticed MJ looking at him carefully and it seemed to be part careful observation, like she was known to do, and part just taking in the sight of him after being nearly two months apart. Peter couldn't help but do the same. Sure they'd seen each other a couple times during the trial, like when she'd testified, or when he'd passed her in the gallery. Hell, they'd just had dinner downstairs. But there seemed to be something about being alone that made it different.

"Never mind."

"What do you mean, 'never mind'?" Peter asked, still confused as to what she'd been going to ask.

"I mean that I don't need to ask the question."

"Why?"

"Because I already know the answer." MJ turned back to face the city once more and Peter continued to look at her for a moment longer. Eventually, he followed suit and they sat in companionable silence. After a while, they found that they were holding hands and Peter decided that this entire summer may have been an ordeal for the both of them, but at least some things were going right.

"You know, we never did get that second date."

Peter smiled at the remark. "No we didn't. It's not like our first one ended all that well either."

"Maybe we can try again," MJ suggested.

"Sure, when were you thinking? I mean I've still got a lot to figure out apparently what with EDITH and—"

"How about now."

Peter halted at that. "Um, y-yeah. Now's good," Peter replied nervously and, despite the speed with which she'd made the suggestion, Peter could tell she was nervous too.

MJ stood up then and began to walk away from the ledge.

"W-where are you going?" Peter asked.

"Come on," she called back to him, only turning to face him once she was in the center of the flat roof. "Let's dance."

"Um, I don't really know how to dance," Peter replied nervously, worried that he was going to make a fool of himself.

"You can do backflips and swing around New York on a web you made in chemistry class but you can't dance," MJ shot back teasingly.

Peter felt his face flush with embarrassment but got up to go to her anyway. MJ put on some slow dance music from her phone while Peter took her free hand and awkwardly, they began to sway to the tune. As they did, MJ leaned into Peter's ear and whispered, "That's okay. I don't really know how to dance either." Peter smiled and he suddenly found himself more comfortable with the situation.

Unfortunately the moment was soon ruined by an unexpected arrival.


	3. Chapter 2

**Fastest Man Alive**

"Mr. Parker," Peter and MJ both stopped looked over to see Alice standing near the door that led back into the hotel. "We really need to discuss getting E.D.I.T.H back from the government."

"I thought you were going to do that in the morning," MJ pointed out, her arms still around Peter and Peter's still around her.

"I've since gotten new information," the lawyer replied. "It's likely that we won't be able to get it through normal legal channels."

"So we'll have to what, get Nick Fury involved?" Peter asked.

"I'm not sure that Fury will be enough to persuade British intelligence to return the device. They're probably trying to hack it as we speak."

"So what should we do?" He couldn't let EDITH fall into the wrong hands again.

"You may have to take it yourself," Alice replied.

"What? You mean _steal_ it? I just got _out_ of jail! If I try to steal EDITH back I'd be right back where I started two months ago except this time I'd actually get convicted."

"I know it's not ideal Peter, but we can figure out ways to keep you from getting caught. The fate of the world is on the line. I know what those military intelligence types are like. If they get into the EDITH system…"

Peter could understand what she was saying, but something still didn't feel quite right. He wasn't feeling the Peter tingle just yet (he really needed to come up with a different name for it), but he could tell something was wrong.

Apparently so could MJ who asked suspiciously, "Why do you care about that? I thought you really just cared about doing your job well and getting paid… And since when do you leave a sentence unfinished?"

Now Peter felt the tingle and not a moment too soon. Almost as soon as he began to move him and MJ out of the way, Alice dropped her expression and drew what looked like a remote control. Only, it wasn't a remote control, it was some kind of gun that shot out darts, darts that Peter and MJ only barely managed to avoid and were probably poisonous to boot. "So much for that idea," Alice muttered, only it didn't sound like Alice anymore, it sounded almost masculine and vaguely Russian.

"Who are—" Peter had to interrupt his own demand as the man-Alice began firing darts at them again. As fast and agile as Peter was, whoever this was had him on the ropes, even with his tingle. He knew they had to get out of there but the man-Alice was blocking the door. How else were they supposed to get out? If it was just him he could…

_MJ's gonna kill me._

"MJ," Peter said, maneuvering them toward the roof's ledge as they continued to avoid the projectiles.

"What?" she asked when they'd reached the edge.

"Hang on tight."

"Oh no you _dooon't!_" MJ's protest turned into a scream as Peter grabbed her and stepped backward off the ledge.

Peter didn't have his web shooters, but he could still cling to walls. The air swept past the two of them as the plummeted down the side of the hotel, MJ's hair whipping around in his face as she clung onto him for dear life. When Peter figured they had gone far enough, he reached out with his hand and grabbed the wall of the hotel. The impact and strain on his shoulder and wrist were jarring but he still hardly felt the pain through the adrenaline rush. In any case, a little bit of pain from straining himself was better than whatever the man-Alice was going to do to them.

Peter looked up and saw the man-Alice peering down at them. When he saw the figure move, Peter didn't waste any time seeing if the man-Alice was attacking again or simply going down the stairs. Instead, Peter pushed off forcefully from the building, spinning in the air as he did so and landing squarely, and less painfully, on the wall of the adjacent building. They continued their descent until they were finally on the ground and MJ let him go.

"I'm so sorry MJ," he said apologetically. "But—"

"Hey, don't apologize," MJ interrupted, still trying to catch her breath. "It's just… I realize you were just saving our lives and all but…"

"You're never doing that again?" Peter finished for her, surprised that he was smiling.

MJ just nodded. "So, what do we do now?"

"I don't have any of my gear, or anything, and we don't know what that was all about so we should probably try and get help."

"Okay, sounds good, but, I left my phone on the roof so I can't call anyone."

"And I left mine in my room…"

They paused for a moment before simultaneously saying, "I bet we can borrow one in the lobby."

"So who you gonna call?" MJ asked.

"I don't know, Fury probably."

"Should probably let everyone else know that your lawyer just tried to kill us too."

That gave Peter pause.

_Was that really Alice though?_

"I'll let them know," he said as they stepped through the doors to the lobby. "But I don't think that was Alice."

"Sure looked like her."

"Yeah, but it didn't sound like her," Peter replied.

"Sound like who?" Peter's head whipped around and he found himself face to face with Nick Fury.

"Oh, thank god," he sighed in relief. "We were just about to call you."

"Oh?" Fury asked, quirking his right eyebrow over his eyepatch.

"_This_ is Nick Fury?" MJ asked.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, we were just attacked by this…" Peter trailed off when he noticed something very wrong with Fury.

"Attacked by what Parker?" Fury asked.

Peter had been thinking of some kind of lie, something clever that they could use to salvage the situation and get inside so they could call for help. But when Peter felt the tingle, he knew that whoever it was that stood in front of him had already realized he'd been figured out. So instead, Peter only said, "Run."

He grabbed MJ's hand and pulled her back through the door after him, several darts flying past them into the street. They wove through pedestrians and traffic and streets and alleyways. "Peter!" MJ shouted over the din, struggling to keep up with him. Peter thought one pedestrian with red hair looked oddly familiar but he didn't give the other person much thought as he continued to run.

"What's going on?" MJ asked.

"I don't know but that wasn't Nick Fury!" Peter called back.

"But I thought you said—"

"I was wrong," Peter replied. "Just keep running. I think that's the man-Alice!"

"The man-Alice?" Peter could almost hear the snark through the panic.

They ran for several more minutes before they found themselves in an alleyway that dead ended. Peter knew that they had to have lost the man-Alice by now but for some reason the tingle just wouldn't go away. As it happened, they hadn't lost him.

"How did you know I wasn't Fury?" the man-Alice asked as it stepped slowly toward them, once again sounding vaguely Russian.

Peter wanted to run, but there was nowhere to run to. He could climb the wall behind them, but with MJ, he wouldn't be able to go fast enough to escape the darts. So instead he answered, hoping to buy time until either he or MJ could think of something. "The eyepatch," Peter replied. "It's on the wrong side. Fury's blind in his left eye, not his right."

The man-Alice tutted. "Of course, there's always something isn't there." Peter saw the man-Alice fiddle with what looked like a wristwatch before his face seemed to shimmer and suddenly the eyepatch had switched eyes.

"Who are you?" MJ asked.

"Are you one of Beck's people?" Peter added.

The fake-Fury laughed at that. "That group of wounded egotists?" he asked incredulously. "Please, they're little more than children trying to get mommy's attention. There would be nothing in it for me to join them. Though I will confess that I can understand why you'd think that, given my holograms."

"What do you want then?" Peter asked.

"I want your help, Mr. Parker. I've been contracted to acquire EDITH and you're going to help me get it. I had hoped to simply fool you into stealing it for me and then letting you take the fall, all with the help of my disguises, of course, but it seems that that's no longer an option." Fake-Fury pushed a new cartridge into his dart gun and aimed it at Peter and MJ. "But it seems like I'll have to do this the old fashioned way. You'll get me the device and be my fall man, or your girlfriend and everyone else you love dies."

"That'll only work until we're all dead," MJ pointed out.

"What?" Peter hissed. "Don't help him."

MJ just shrugged. "I can't help it, it's true."

"She's right. That is true. I don't think it will come to that but if it does, I can still threaten Peter himself, and if I need to kill him as well, then I'll just start over with my disguises on someone else who's close to the device. How does that phrase go? 'Rinse and repeat' until I have EDITH"

Peter gulped. Whoever this person was, was clearly determined to get his hands on perhaps the most dangerous pair of glasses in the world. Peter knew he couldn't let him have them, but at the same time he couldn't let this, man? hurt his friends.

"So what do you say, Spider-man? EDITH or everyone you love, and then you, and then some other poor sap and everyone he loves, on and on again until I get what I want."

Peter frantically tried to come up with an escape plan and as he glanced over to MJ, he knew she was doing the same. They were both failing spectacularly. Peter was about to give in, to stall for time if nothing else, when he felt the tingle again. As it would turn out, he wouldn't need to say anything to the fake-Fury/man-Alice.

There was an unnatural gust of wind and a barely perceptible blur of color that shot past him. It took only a moment and both he and his attacker had been momentarily disoriented by the occurrence. Peter had only just noticed MJ was no longer standing with him when the gust returned, only this time, he felt something unnaturally fast grab him and carry him bridal style so fast he had to close his eyes to protect them from the wind generated by his motion.

When he finally came to a stop, whatever had grabbed him set him down and Peter wobbled uncertainly for a moment before taking in his surroundings. It looked like they were clear on the edge of London which, given how long it took him to get there, was impossibly fast. The acceleration both at the start and stop should have also given him whiplash and smashed all his internal organs into the side of his chest. But there he stood, just fine.

"What. Was. That?"

Peter broke out of his daze at the sound of MJ's voice. "I don't know," he replied, looking around for whatever it was that had just saved them from the man-Alice. But there was nothing to be found.

The two of them eventually found their way to a functioning pay phone and let Happy know what had happened. They got a cab back to the hotel and Happy met them and paid the driver before taking them back inside. Once everything had settled down and Happy let him know that he'd called Fury and that he was having people investigate, Peter and MJ walked back to their rooms.

"So… I guess that wasn't really much of a second date," Peter said awkwardly.

"I thought it was okay," MJ replied, surprising Peter. "I mean, apart from the almost getting killed, falling off a building, almost getting killed again, and then winding up on the other side of London."

Peter couldn't help but smile and he was thankful that MJ returned it, albeit nervously. "Good night," he said, which she returned before making her way to her room. When Peter pushed open the door to his, he noticed that it was well after midnight and he now felt truly exhausted. He collapsed on his bed, hoping to get to some much needed sleep before he had to discuss getting his things back with real-Alice in the morning. Unfortunately there was no such luck. He heard a knock on his door and Ned's voice coming through it. "Hey dude," he called. "We gotta figure out who this speed guy is."

Peter groaned. "Go to bed Ned, it's late. We can do it in the morning."

"But dude, you actually _saw_ him. You gotta tell me everything before you forget."

"It's not like I really saw him Ned, he was going too fast." Now that Peter thought of it, calling, whatever that had been, "him" didn't really make sense. "How do you even know it's a guy? Or a person even? I could be some kind of high-tech super-fast experimental drone. Or an alien."

Peter sat up when he didn't hear Ned's reply. He started slipping back into high alert, wondering if something had happened to Ned. Only, he didn't feel the tingle. Then he heard his lock click and the door swung open to reveal Ned with an odd device in his hand. Peter had a pretty good guess as to what it was supposed to do. "Ned," Peter sighed. "Did you just hack the lock to my room?"

"Yeah, this stuff's important!"

"Go to bed Ned."

"Okay, fine, but first look at this." Ned whipped out his laptop and opened up a YouTube video that consisted of various clips from the Battle of London pasted together.

"I've seen this Ned, we were there, remember?"

"I know, but look closely." The next clip was a slowed down version of the preceding one which had been caught by someone recording the battle on a high-speed camera. The image was blurry, but Peter could see a blur that looked like it could be vaguely human. It rushed into the frame, grabbed a bystander and then made off with him. A few frames later, what had to be a mere fraction of a second in real time, a chunk of rubble crashed to the ground on the spot where the bystander had been.

"Is that…"

"I know, right. It's so cool."

Peter glanced to the title of the video. "The Blur: Fastest Man Alive"


	4. Chapter 3

**The Mask**

"What do you mean we can't get EDITH back?" Peter asked.

"I mean we can't get it back," Alice replied. "It's been confiscated by the government on behalf of the United Nations on the grounds that it violates the Sokovia accords."

"How?" Peter asked.

"The Accords strictly regulate the use and distribution of highly advanced technology and technology that bestows superhuman capabilities. EDITH obviously qualifies as the first and the government has made the case that it also qualifies as the second.

"In creating and giving you EDITH, Tony Stark violated the Accords which _he_ signed."

"But—"

"Just let it be Mr. Parker. You're not getting EDITH back, I'm sorry." Peter didn't think Alice sounded very sorry, just frustrated that she'd failed to completely fulfill the terms of her employment. "But," Alice continued, gesturing to the box in front of him. "You get all your other things back at least."

Peter was concerned about not getting the glasses back but he supposed that if it was with the UN it wouldn't be too bad. At least it would be more secure than he could keep it, and since it had been taken on the grounds of violating the Sokovia Accords, Peter supposed the British government wouldn't be able to hold onto it for long enough to get access and it would soon be in neutral hands.

"And that concludes our business, Mr. Parker." With that, Alice walked back out the lobby door, leaving Peter alone with the box that held his suit, web shooters, and other Spider-man paraphernalia. As concerned as he had been about the man-Alice, there was something about the daylight that had made him confident enough to go downstairs on his own. Of course, the plain clothes agents Fury had supposedly planted in the hotel last night had also helped.

Peter gazed into the box. He reached in and pulled out his mask. It was strange. The mask had originally been to conceal his identity. Now though, it would only serve to scream it to the world every time he put it on.

_Maybe I shouldn't put it back on…_

And to think he'd only _just_ accepted the role Mr. Stark had given him. Only now, he didn't have his secret identity, he didn't have EDITH He needed advice, he needed to talk to Mr. Stark, or even Captain Rogers. Only, he didn't have either of them anymore either.

"You shouldn't brood kid, it's not a good look on you."

Peter looked up to see the red haired man who'd filmed his confrontation with Beck looking down at him.

_What was his name? Wallace West?_

Peter quickly scrambled to his feet. "Mr. West."

The young man laughed at that, but Peter thought he saw something behind the laugh. It sounded almost like a faint echo of what this Mr. West used to sound like. "Please, call me Wally, Mr. West was my dad." He held out his hand to shake and Peter took it, reflecting on Wally's use of past tense to refer to his father.

"Wally," Peter said at last. "Call me Peter." Peter dropped his hand. "Thanks for what you did."

The red head visibly tensed. "What do you mean?"

"Back at the trial, and I guess on the bridge. I mean I could have used some help but since you're not enhanced it's not like you…" Peter stopped himself. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling. Just, thanks."

Wally seemed to relax at that. "You're welcome," he replied. "So what's on your mind?"

"Huh?"

"You looked like you were thinking pretty hard about that mask of yours."

Peter looked back at the mask in his hands. "Yeah, I was just thinking about… You know about EDITH right?"

"Those fancy glasses that billionaire gave you?"

_That's an odd way to talk about Mr. Stark. "That Billionaire?" It's almost like he doesn't really know who he was, or at least doesn't care very much._

"Um, yeah," Peter replied. "Well, they've been confiscated by the UN."

"Is that such a bad thing? I mean, given what it can do, you'd want it to be as hard to use by the wrong person as possible. The UN isn't likely to just hand it over to anyone and they're probably gonna keep it pretty secure."

"I know," Peter replied. "It's just that Mr. Stark trusted me with that. He trusted me with a lot of things, and I kind of feel like I've failed him. And now that the world knows I'm Spider-man, I'm not sure if I should go swinging around New York anymore. Maybe I should just go back to being ordinary Peter Parker."

"Is that what you want?"

"I already have a target on my back now that people know I'm Spider-man, and after last night, I think it's pretty well established that EDITH only adds to that. I've got plenty of enemies as is, I'm not sure I should be adding more by continuing as Spider-man. Especially now that my friends and family are in danger too."

"But it sounds like you really looked up to this Stark guy."

_There it is again…_

Peter nodded.

"Sounds like you need to figure out what you really want," Wally remarked. "Do you want to live up to Stark's expectations by being one of those Avengers, or do you want to be ordinary Peter Parker. Go to school, get a job, see if that thing with your girlfriend's gonna go anywhere?"

That was a good question.

_What do I want?_

"I kinda want both," Peter replied.

Wally looked thoughtful at that. "I suppose they don't _have_ to be mutually exclusive, but you do realize that it's a lot harder to do both. And I mean _a lot_."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

Peter noticed him tense up again. "No, not at all," he replied, almost too quickly. "It's just that, being an Avenger takes a lot of time and it's also pretty dangerous, like you said." For some reason Peter didn't quite believe the first part but he understood what Wally meant. "If you think you can handle that then go for it."

Peter nodded. "Thanks," he said at last.

"Don't mention it," Wally replied. The older man checked his watch and visibly started. "Love to keep talking but I better outfiltrate myself or I'm gonna miss my flight. Hope you figure things out Peter." With that the odd red head dashed out the front doors to the hotel.

"Outfiltrate?" Peter shook his head and picked the box with his things up and began to make his way back to the elevator.

One of the concierge greeted him as he passed. "Hey, it's Spider-man! Can I get an autograph for my son?" he asked.

"Um…" Peter had not expected that, though he supposed he should have. Things really were going to be different now that the world knew who he was. "Sure, I guess." Peter set down his box and took the pen and photo the man offered him. Peter recognized it as a zoomed in image of his fight with Beck's drones over the Thames. He didn't know if he should sign it Peter Parker or Spider-man but in the end, he settled on the latter.

As he wrote on the photo the concierge said to him, "You know, I never doubted for a second that you were innocent. I took this myself so I knew what really happened."

"Oh, uh… Thanks sir." Peter awkwardly handed the pen and photo back to the man.

"No, thank _you_. If it wasn't for you and that Blur guy, who knows how many people that fraud Beck would have killed?" The man left to return to his duties, leaving Peter standing in the hallway next to his box pondering just who this "Blur" was.

They left for New York later that afternoon. Peter sat next to the window on the flight back, deep in thought. MJ sat to his left, reading a book about the JFK assassination while Ned chattered about the Blur behind him. Peter caught something about buildings being rebuilt overnight in Sokovia but he was too absorbed in his own musings to pay much attention.

_Is there any reason to think I can't do both? The only thing that's changed is that everyone knows who I am now. That didn't stop Mr. Stark. He just came right out and announced he was Iron Man. And there are plenty of other Avengers who don't have secret identities. But they all stay at the compound, they can protect themselves and each other and those close to them. I'm just a high-school kid._

Peter remembered then something his Uncle Ben had told him before he died. _"Those who wield great power bear the mantle of responsibility."_ Peter certainly had great power… And then there was EDITH He may not have it anymore, but he was still responsible for it and the man-Alice was after it. Peter thought back to his conversation with Mr. Stark when he'd lost his suit. _"I wanted you to be better,"_ he'd said. Peter thought back to the space-donut. He remembered what he felt when Mr. Stark made him an Avenger.

_That's right… I may be a high-school kid, but I'm an Avenger too._

"I'll do it."

"Do what?" MJ asked, making Peter realize that he'd just said that out loud.

"Yeah, do what?" Ned asked, having been snapped out of his Blur fanboying.

Peter swallowed. "I've just been thinking about what happens now. What comes after we get home."

"And?" MJ asked expectantly.

"Things'll be different now that everyone knows I'm Spider-man, but I won't let that stop me. It didn't stop Mr. Stark. I'm gonna keep being Spider-man."

"How about you focus on figuring out a college first," Aunt May suggested.

"Yeah, after that video showed up they all dropped you like a hot potato," MJ added.

_And then there's that._


	5. Chapter 4

**College Life**

As it turned out, not _every_ college had dropped Peter like a hot potato. Just all the ones he'd applied to. There was one institution, however, to which he had not applied, but which had instead _invited_ him. As part of the invitation, this "college" had offered him a pretty good, if unusual, deal. One that would essentially cover all his tuition, fees, and room and board. The only reason he hadn't accepted the invitation and enrolled was the risk in attending. It was brand new, only established since the blip, its accreditation was thus uncertain at best and there was no way to tell the quality of the education he'd get from it.

Now though, it was really his only option. Where all the colleges and scholarships he'd applied for had chosen to distance themselves from the media storm that the Daily Bugle had kicked off, it was the one he hadn't applied for that had stuck it out and left the offer open to him, even at the eleventh hour. So here Peter was, standing in front of the main building of a tiny campus twenty miles outside Willowdale, Virginia, staring at the sign high above him. "Wells-Morgan Science Technology and Research Academy" it read. At the lower left corner of the text was a bright blue starburst with two of its rays framing the sign.

Taking a deep breath, Peter walked up the steps that led to what looked like glass swinging doors. The orientation day instructions they'd sent had said he needed to proceed to the main auditorium. Peter grabbed the door handle and pulled, expecting it to budge. When it didn't, he tried pushing only for the door to remain firmly closed.

_Maybe it's just a little stuck?_

Peter tried again, several times, pushing and pulling, each time with more force than the last until he was worried he might actually break the door with his enhanced strength. More than a little frustrated, Peter threw up his hands and sighed.

_Great way to start college Peter._

By chance, Peter caught sight of a tiny camera protruding from the wall to his right. Peter faced it and asked, "Could someone let me in please? I'm Peter Parker, I just enrolled here. There may have been some mix up with the paperwork since it was such short—"

Peter was interrupted by a feminine but clearly electronic voice that reminded him of EDITH but with a British accent. "Welcome Mr. Parker," the voice said as the door clicked open. "And I do apologize for keeping you locked out. One of the faculty members simply wished to test my security features."

"Um, okay, thanks," Peter replied awkwardly as he stepped across the threshold. Peter was about to start searching for the auditorium when he noticed the young man standing a couple yards away, smirking in his direction. A dull green sweater-vest enveloped his pudgy form, under which he wore a plain white collared shirt and orange tie. His head was crowned with thick brown hair that was neatly combed to one side and a pair of rimless glasses rested on his small nose. Despite his choice of color scheme, and the fact that his simple jeans and sneakers were clearly budget brand, this man somehow managed to pull off the "classy" look.

_This smirking thing is getting a bit creepy._

"Um, can I help you?" Peter asked tentatively.

"You just did Mr. Parker," the man replied.

Now Peter was just confused. "How did I…?"

"You were my 'acid test' so to speak. I designed the security and energy systems of all the buildings on campus. Well, parts of the systems, the computer stuff was never really my thing, but the materials…" Upon seeing Peter's confused look, the man continued, "You see, the entire outer shell of this place, including the doors and windows, is made of various vibranium compounds—"

"So the building is virtually impenetrable!" Peter exclaimed excitedly as he realized the implications of having the building encased in vibranium. "That explains why I couldn't force the door open even when I was using probably about eighty percent of my strength. That must be why it's also so quiet in here, the kinetic energy absorbing properties of the vibranium compounds must make excellent soundproofing and you can utilize the absorbed energy to power the campus so you can run completely off the grid!" It was then that Peter realized that he'd interrupted the other man who, given his part in designing the campus and what the computer lady had said earlier, was probably going to be one of his professors.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized. "I got kind of carried away."

"Not at all," he replied easily. "That kind of enthusiasm is exactly what we were hoping to get in our students when we opened the place and to be honest, it's kind of flattering to watch someone nerd out over my work." The man offered Peter a handshake and introduced himself. "I'm Dr. Octavius, I specialize in anything chemistry or classical physics related, especially when it comes to applied science."

Peter accepted the handshake. "Nice to meet you."

"And you. It's kind of something to meet Spider-man in the flesh."

Peter felt his face color somewhat and he found himself unsure of how to reply. "Ahh. Well… I'm just a guy from Queens is all," he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"If you say so," Dr. Octavius replied. "Come on, I'll show you to the auditorium."

"Thank you sir," Peter replied, following his future professor.

"Not a problem. Though, I do have to correct you on something you said earlier. We don't actually operate completely off the grid. The vibranium shells only provide about fifty percent of the power we use."

"So was the power the only reason for the vibranium shells?" Peter asked.

"No actually. You see, Dr. Wells is a bit on the paranoid side, has been since the snap. So he's put a lot of thought into keeping this place as secure as possible. I doubt it's a project he'll ever be satisfied is complete."

They came to a door which Dr. Octavius pulled open, allowing Peter to step through first. After they were both inside and Peter had politely thanked his professor, he looked around the auditorium. It was smaller than he'd expected and with the design of the chairs which had swivel-desks and a shape that would make people more inclined to sit up and take notes than sit back and listen comfortably, Peter thought it would be more accurately described as a large lecture hall than a small auditorium. There was a small stage at the front of the hall just in front and to the side of which was a computer terminal which presumably connected to the twin projectors that hung from the high ceiling.

Despite the small size of the room, the number of people present made it look spacious. Peter figured that there couldn't have been more than forty people, excluding those he guessed were faculty. Peter set his things down in the front row near the center and he overheard Dr. Octavius talking to a man who had to be Dr. Wells.

"You owe me fifty bucks," he said smugly.

"Oh?" the other man questioned, not looking up from what he was doing at the computer terminal. "What for?"

"I won the bet," Dr. Octavius replied. "The shell's impenetrable."

Peter noticed a smile tugging at the corner of the other man's mouth.

"Really? That's good news Otto. But how did you get Dr. Banner to come all the way down here from upstate New York?"

"I didn't," Dr. Octavius replied somewhat shortly.

"Then you didn't win the bet."

"Of course I did," Dr. Octavius insisted. "Spider-man himself tried to break in and the doors didn't yield a micron."

"Ah," the other man began as he concluded whatever it was he'd been doing, smiling good naturedly as he moved toward center stage. "But Otto, as I recall, the bet was that the doors could withstand the Hulk, not Spider-man."

"Dr. Wells, you know we'll never be able to poach Dr. Banner from the Aveng—"

"Ah," Dr. Wells interrupted. "No Dr. Banner, no bet. Besides, Mr. Parker over here proves that it's not impossible to steal an Avenger from Nick. All you have to do is steal me another and you'll get well over fifty dollars."

Upon being singled out, Peter suddenly felt the eyes of everyone in the room on him. He turned his head slowly to glance around at his soon to be classmates, no longer listening to the two doctors' exchange. Sure enough, everyone's attention had been turned to him. He could make out some of the whispers between friends and the muttering of the few loners in the group.

"So that's Spider-man huh? He's not so impressive."

"Isn't he a criminal?"

"No, it was all a setup. Mysterio's the one who really tore up London."

"He's oddly attractive, in a nerdy sort of way."

"Doesn't that kind of apply to everyone here though?"

The muttering, and Peter's eavesdropping, were soon interrupted by Dr. Wells who commanded the attention of the entire room with his crisp British accent that sounded like it belonged in the halls of some esteemed institution like Oxford but clashed so violently with his very casual attire.

"Welcome, everyone, and thank you for choosing the Science Technology and Research Academy for your higher education. I realize it was a bit of a risk for you, devoting four years of your life to studying at an institution that has no reputation to speak of so I… _we_," Dr. Wells gestured to the other faculty who were gathered which included Dr. Octavius and a woman who looked to be about Dr. Wells's age. "We are truly grateful and we promise that the risk will have been—" Dr. Wells was interrupted when the door to the auditorium slammed open, revealing a tall, well dressed young man with light brown hair in a short fauxhawk. There was something about him that Peter thought was familiar but he couldn't place it.

"Mr. Osborn," Dr. Wells called up to the back, the annoyance leaking through his usually upbeat demeanor. "So glad you could join us. I hope Norman didn't have too much difficulty finding the place?"

Now everyone's attention was turned toward the newcomer. "Dad couldn't come Unc—I mean Dr. Wells. He's busy with the final stages of a new project."

Peter, whose attention had turned back to Dr. Wells, noticed that the professor's annoyance had vanished and had been replaced with what looked like pity.

"I see," was all he said. "Well, better late than never I suppose, go ahead and have a seat Harry." Once Harry had taken a seat toward the back, Dr. Wells continued. "As I was saying. We promise that the chance you're all taking on this little project of ours will be worth it.

"As you may have guessed by now, I am Dr. Henry Wells. This," Dr. Wells gestured to the other two faculty standing off to the side, "is Dr. Otto Octavius, and my wife Renee."

The two others greeted the assembled students and Renee spoke up, "And to avoid confusing me with my husband, you can call me Dr. Morgan."

Dr. Wells continued. "We are just a few of the faculty who will lead you on your journey through your higher education. We are also the three who originally developed the idea of creating this academy almost six years ago, immediately following the conflict that temporarily eliminated half of all animal life in the universe.

"Our world became the focal point of that conflict and it was ultimately down to us to protect the lives of countless people. Yet as a species, we were woefully unprepared. Even if the Avengers hadn't been hobbled and shattered by the Sokovia Accords, we still would have lost. Thankfully, we came back from that but only after five years and only by chance.

"Not long after everyone first disappeared, the three of us found each other and we decided that we couldn't afford to be caught unprepared again. That is why we founded this academy. Not only have we gathered some of the brightest young minds from around this country, but we also have a highly competent staff, some of whom you will meet later when we tour the facilities. We also have state of the art equipment to facilitate your learning and, most importantly, your research."

Dr. Morgan began speaking now. "Many of you were probably curious as to why our offer was free tuition, room, and board for you in exchange for your work in research and development. This R and D is essentially work for hire and will be used to support the academy, but it will also serve to further the mission of this institution. The universe is as dangerous as it is beautiful. The only way we can be prepared for its dangers is by learning its secrets and developing the tools to ensure that nothing like the snap, or the blip as some of you call it, happens again."

"This isn't like Stark Industries or SHIELD," Dr. Octavius put in. "Those organizations just develop the technologies and do the research. The academy will do that yes, but by the time you've completed your four years here, you'll have gained the tools to perform that research and technology development on your own."

"Our aim here isn't simply to save the world, nay, not even just humanity. Our aim is to provide the foundations to protect the universe. We aim for the _stars_. What's your aim?" Dr. Wells finished.

There was a moment of silence before the sound of a lone pair of hands clapping could be heard. It took Peter a moment to realize they were his hands. He didn't clap alone for long though, soon all the other students had joined in and Peter could see the grin that had spread across Dr. Wells's face. It wasn't the grin of someone who enjoyed being the center of attention or anything so egocentric as that. It was a grin of optimism, of victories achieved, and those yet to come. After the year Peter had had, he could use some optimism in his life.

Once the applause had died down, Dr. Morgan spoke up again. "Now that we're all thoroughly inspired, why don't we break into three groups and we can have a look at the research facilities. We'd show you the classrooms but if you've seen one lecture hall you've seen them all." The last remark earned polite laughter from the gathered students as they broke into roughly equal groups, each led by a different professor.

As Peter was led through the various facilities, he couldn't help but gawk at the labs. Most of them were pretty much empty since the academy had just opened but there were a few that already had some equipment and chemicals and specimens occupying them, the work of other faculty who had yet to be seen. As they toured, they passed Dr. Jane Foster in the halls, a woman who needed no introduction. Even those who were less familiar with her work in astronomy and physics knew who she was from her involvement in the Battle of Greenwich over a decade before.

The other faculty member they were introduced to was Dr. Olivia Anders, a woman of average height with Professor Trelawney glasses, long, unruly, curly hair that stuck out in odd directions, and a Doctor Who scarf. She also seemed to Peter to be on a perpetual caffeine high. "My primary focus is on modern physics, including quantum mechanics and the Selvig Model," she explained. "In terms of research, my current interest is the cosmic energy released by the snap, specifically its implications for different theories of the multiverse." Despite, her unkempt appearance, Dr. Anders's lab was surprisingly clean and neat. At least that's what Peter thought until he got a chance glimpse at her computer monitor.

_Geez, organize your desktop lady._

After having seen the facilities and met a few of the faculty, Peter decided that he was quite glad he'd chosen the Wells-Morgan Academy. The labs were high tech, he couldn't help but admire Doctors Wells, Morgan, and Octavius for their mission, and the few faculty he had met seemed to know their stuff, even if some of them were a bit on the kooky side.

The small group rendezvoused with the others at the dorms where they discovered their things had already been delivered to their rooms by Gideon, which turned out to be the AI that Peter had met earlier and was charged with helping to run the day to day of the academy. "Isn't that illegal?" one of the other students asked. "Under the Sokovia Accords."

"You make an excellent point," Dr. Wells replied. "But Gideon is a weak enough AI that she's not covered under the Accords. And don't worry, she won't go all HAL on you."

Peter cracked a smile at that. It seemed that Dr. Wells was a fan of old sci-fi too.

"Hal?" someone asked.

"From 2001: A Space Odyssey," Peter put in. "It's a sci-fi movie from the 60's."

Peter heard someone mutter that Ultron would have been a more relevant reference but by that point Dr. Wells had bid them good night and left Gideon to direct them to their rooms. That was when Peter discovered that his roommate was the guy who had come in late earlier, Harry Osborn. "So," he said, once they'd stepped into their room and begun unpacking. "It looks like we're gonna be roomies. I'm Harry." Peter took the offered hand and shook it before going back to filling his side of the closet.

"Yeah," Peter replied awkwardly. "Dr. Wells said. Nice to meet you though. I mean formally."

_Smooth Peter._

"I'm Peter by the way."

"Nice to meet you Peter, though I'm not sure Spider-man needs any introduction, not after this summer anyway."

_Here it comes._

Peter wasn't entirely sure what Harry thought of him but given his tone it seemed he at least liked Spider-man. But even if that was the case, Peter still wasn't too keen on all the attention. When Mr. Stark had first given him the suit and brought him to Germany to fight Captain Rogers and the other "rogue" Avengers, Peter had thought that all he wanted was to join the league of superheroes. He'd been so enthusiastic about it and the thought of being in the limelight hadn't bothered him a bit. Even when he was just the friendly neighborhood Spider-man he hadn't had a problem with his celebrity. The only thing that had changed was that he was now a celebrity even without the mask and for some reason, it felt different.

"I'm sorry," Harry said quickly. The sincerity of the apology was almost as surprising to Peter as the apology itself.

"What for?" Peter asked.

"Well, when I mentioned you being Spider-man and all, you kind of tensed. I guess it just didn't occur to me that you weren't really big on being a celebrity like Tony Stark or Steve Rogers. And then I was about to fanboy and all and it made you really uncomfortable."

"It's fine Harry," Peter assured, almost reflexively.

"No," Harry insisted forcefully, giving Peter the sense that there was more to this than just polite deference to someone else. "It's not fine because I know what it feels like. To almost everyone now, you're not Peter, you're Spider-man. You're a celebrity and there's this expectation of who you should be that everyone else has. An expectation that isn't really you. And on the one hand, you feel like you have to become that, but on the other, you just want to get away from it all and be you. You have approval ratings, and people fight flame wars on social media over you. Eventually, you start feeling hollowed out, like you're just a box for other people to put things into."

Peter listened intently to his roommate and as he did, he got the sense that Harry spoke from experience.

_But that would mean that _he's _famous or something. But I do get the sense I have seen him before, I just can't remember where…_

Then it clicked. It was years ago, when Peter was still in grade school. The newscaster was reporting on the launch of Osborn Chemical's first product, some fuel additive that would reduce exhaust smog. The view had changed to a short clip of the company's founder and CEO, Norman Osborn, leading a young boy to a car from the front doors of the company's labs.

"Wait, you're _that_ Harry Osborn?" Peter asked. "As in Osborn Chemical, Osborn?"

"Well, it's Oscorp now, Dad's expanded some. But, yeah, _that_ Osborn," Harry replied.

It hadn't occurred to Peter that the son of a famous industrialist and inventor would rather avoid the attention that the spotlight brought. Then again, perhaps it wasn't the attention itself that the two of them had a problem with, it was the kind of attention.

"Ever since my dad made it big, I've been the son of Norman Osborn, heir to the family business. Even my dad started treating me different after a while. But I really just want to be Harry. Just Harry."

Peter finished hanging up his last shirt and turned to face his roommate. "Then that's who you'll be," Peter said, not really knowing where his sudden decision to break from the typical, shy Peter Parker he'd always been at Midtown had come from and not particularly caring either. "To me at least."

Harry smiled. "Thanks."

"On one condition," Peter added.

"What's that?"

"To you, I'm just Peter."

Harry grinned. "You've got a deal, 'just Peter'."

"So, how do you know Dr. Wells?" Peter asked. "I mean, if you don't mind my asking. It's just that you seemed familiar with him back at the auditorium."

"He and my dad went to grad school together. They were pretty close friends though Dad says he always felt like he was in Uncle Henry's shadow, and they don't really talk much anymore. I didn't even know he was married until after I got the invitation to attend STAR Academy."

"STAR?"

"Yeah, Science Technology and Research, STAR."

_That gives new significance to the starburst on the sign._

"Why'd your dad feel like Dr. Wells overshadowed him?" Peter asked as he helped Harry loft his bed over where they'd be putting the TV.

Harry quirked an eyebrow at him. "In case you haven't noticed Dr. Wells is a genius."

"But so are all the other faculty."

"Not like him," Harry replied. "He's got three PhD's and he got them all at the same time. Uncle Henry's a bona fide polymath, and apparently so is Dr. Morgan. That's actually kind of why my dad started Osborn Chemical. _He_ at least likes the spotlight. I remember so many dinners when he'd rant to mom and me about how everything he did, no matter how great, always got overshadowed by Uncle Henry. So he was glad when Osborn Chemical took off and Uncle Henry chose to remain an obscure scientist.

"You can go ahead and set the bed down now," Harry said, changing the subject after securing the last fastener on the loft kit. When Peter let the bed rest on its own supports Harry asked, "So how does that super-strength thing work with you anyway?"

"Huh?"

"You just lifted my entire bedframe and mattress by yourself and I _know_ that's not the heaviest thing you've ever lifted."

"Oh, it's a spider thing. Spiders can lift many times their own weight, the exact amount varies by species."

"I thought that was just a scaling laws thing though?"

"Uhh… Good point." Peter really hadn't considered that.

"So how did you get your powers? Are you an Inhuman?"

"What? No. It was a spider bite," Peter replied.

"A spider bite? How does that even work?"

"I don't know, it was a mutant spider and I didn't exactly keep it in a jar to study it."

"You killed it didn't you." It was less question and more accusation.

"Of course I did. I just got bit by a weird multicolored spider, what else did you expect me to do?"

"Keep it," Harry replied as if it was the obvious thing to do. "Go to a hospital and see if the doctors could identify it so they could maybe give you the antivenom. I mean, what if it hadn't been a mutant spider? You'd probably be dead."

"But it _was_ a mutant spider, and I'm _not_ dead," Peter replied.

Harry's response was to roll his eyes. "Anyway, enough spider stuff. Why don't we go out on the town tonight?"

"What?"

"Come on, Willowdale's not too far, I've got a car. We can get to know each other more, have some fun, maybe meet some cute girls from Culver U."

"I actually have a girlfriend," Peter replied.

"Where's she go to school?"

"Culver," Peter replied.

"Great! You can invite her along. Come on Pete it's Friday night and we're just kicking off college. Starting a new chapter in our lives. It'll be fun." Harry didn't give Peter a chance to decline the offer. Before he knew it, Harry had a plain black leather jacket on and had grabbed Peter's wrist and was dragging him down the stairs and out the front door of the dorm building toward the parking lot.

Deciding to just go along with it, Peter texted MJ as Harry drove from campus and into Willowdale. _"My roommate and I are going to a place called Willowdale Bruce. Wanna come?"_

When his phone buzzed, Peter pulled out the phone and read the text. _"You realize that's a bar right?"_

"Harry, we're not going to a bar are we?" Peter asked.

"Might be," came the evasive reply.

"But we're not twenty-one."

"That's true." Harry's reply made it sound as if this wasn't a problem. "You and I are both twenty-four, since we blipped."

"I don't think it works that way," Peter replied skeptically.

"It does in Virginia… At least for now," Harry replied. "The state legislature's still trying to figure out how to handle the whole blip thing. So until they get their stuff together, you and I are of drinking age."

Peter had just finished relaying Harry's explanation to MJ when they pulled into the parking lot. The two of them stepped out and Peter took in the neon sign. Above the name of the establishment was a likeness of the Hulk, cluing Peter into the fact that the name was a bad pun on Dr. Banner's name and "brews". A _very_ bad pun.

"I know. Not the best of names," Harry said as he led the way through the parking lot. "But it's one of those things that's so bad it's good you know?"

"Kind of, but I don't think this one qualifies," Peter replied. When his phone buzzed again, he checked it and read MJ's reply. "MJ's coming," he said. "But she thinks we're stupid for doing this."

"She's coming though so that's good," Harry replied. "Is she bringing any friends?" Harry asked eagerly.

"She didn't say."

Harry shrugged. "I guess we'll find out when she gets here. I hope she does, it'd be kind of boring with just the three of us."

When they reached the door, Peter glanced back at the parking lot. Something had been eating at him ever since they'd pulled in and looking back, it was pretty obvious what it was. "Hey Harry."

"Hmm?"

"Isn't it a bit odd that we're the only ones here on a Friday night in a college town?" Peter asked.

Harry glanced back at the empty parking lot. "Nah." Harry waved his hand dismissively. "We're just early is all. It'll fill up before too long."

Taking Harry's word for it, Peter just followed him into the deserted bar. The only person present was the woman tending bar. Before they could sit down though, Peter's phone started buzzing again. He pulled it out of his pocket to check the number and his stomach sank when he saw that the screen read "Unknown Number".

_I really hope this is just a crank caller and not Nick Fury._

Peter pressed answer and held it to his ear, ready to end the call as soon as it turned out to be a scammer. He would have no such luck.

"_Parker,_" Fury's voice echoed over the line.

Peter groaned internally. He hadn't been back all that long and already Fury was calling him.

_Maybe he just wants to check up on me?_

"_You're gonna need to come to the compound._"

_No dice._

This time Peter groaned aloud, drawing Harry's attention and Fury's ire.

"_Did you just groan at me?_"

"N-no sir," Peter lied.

"Sir?" Harry asked. His confusion quickly turned to awe as he realized what was happening. "That's Nick Fury isn't it," he said excitedly. "Is it Avengers business? Is it a mission?"

"Harry," Peter cut in. "Remember what we agreed to? Just Peter? Just Harry?"

"Yeah, but that isn't really gonna work out if you get random calls from Nick Fury."

"_Is someone else with you?_" Fury asked over the phone.

"My roommate," Peter replied before quickly getting back to the point. "Sir, do I _have_ to come now? I just started school and I thought we decided I wasn't going to do the whole Avengers thing for a little while."

"_Not an option,_" Fury replied shortly.

"What could you need _me_ for now, of all times," Peter asked exasperatedly. He'd been pushed around enough by Fury on the Europe trip. He was damned if he was going to let it happen again.

"Probably that," Harry interrupted, pointing at one of the TVs above the bar.

The channel was set to WHiH World News. The ticker along the bottom read "E.D.I.T.H. DEVICE STOLEN EN ROUTE TO U.N. FACILITY KEY WITNESS IN SPIDER-MAN CASE PRIME SUSPECT" Above the ticker, the screen flashed CCTV footage of a very familiar looking red head apparently forcing his way into the vehicle before making off with a small black case.

"Could you turn it up?" Peter asked and Harry reached up and fiddled with the buttons on the screen.

"The suspect has been identified as one Wallace West whose testimony exonerated New York City's Peter Parker, an enhanced human and Avenger who goes by the moniker Spider-man," the newscaster said. "UK authorities have asked that Mr. West be extradited and that they be permitted to bring Mr. Parker in for questioning as a person of interest in the case citing his ties with Mr. West and concerns that the two may have orchestrated the theft as the justification. The President has refused both requests for the moment, though he has declined to comment on why."

"Okay," Peter replied into the phone at last. "I'll come, I'm at a bar in Willowdale called Willowdale Bruce."

"_I'll send someone to take you to the quinjet._"

Peter nodded, forgetting that Fury couldn't see him. Then something occurred to him, "And please don't shoot Harry like you did Ned back in Europe."*

Upon hearing that sentence Harry threw him a confused and somewhat concerned look.

"_If he can mind his own business, he should be fine._"

_Well, no rest for the weary. Time to go be Spider-man._

* * *

*Those of you who've seen the post credit scenes of FFH know that it wasn't actually Fury who tranqed Ned, just Talos disguised as Fury. Peter doesn't know that though and I don't think Fury would tell him unless he had a good reason to let Peter know which is why I left that bit of dialogue in there.

I also wanted to go over the math on Peter's age since I've essentially established it here. So according to the wiki, Peter was born August 1, 2001. In Homecoming, he said he was 15 and, if I remember correctly, he was a sophomore there. So since Peter is 15 and has a summer birthday, Homecoming and Peter's sophomore year of high school take place in the 2016-17 academic year. According to the wiki, the snap was in 2018. I'm not sure if it was ever specified whether this was spring or fall semester so I just made it fall which makes Peter a senior and 17. In FFH, we're told that everyone who blipped, even though they were not an insignificant way into the school year, had to repeat the entire year. So in 2023, when Peter goes back to Midtown, he repeats his senior year and is now 18. Thus by the time he goes to college, at least for the sake of this story, he's 19 biologically and 24 chronologically (because of the additional 5 years). Now I realize that I might have missed/forgotten a detail or two while I was mathing (yes, I added "ing" math, I'm channeling my inner Dick Grayson) so we're just going to chalk that up to poetic license. Or, if you prefer, we'll just say that this is taking place in a corner of the multiverse that isn't _quite_ the MCU which is Earth-199999 (I think). Let's call it Earth-200000.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed!

-Pandalien


	6. Chapter 5

**_Kid_ Flash?**

Wally didn't feel so good. He felt really groggy, more than a little sick to his stomach, and the bright white light that pierced through his closed eyelids wasn't helping his splitting headache either. Wally cracked his eyes open tentatively before slamming them shut again as it felt like knives were being driven through his sockets and into his skull. He wondered briefly if he was hungover. He'd heard that hangovers could be pretty awful. Then he remembered that he couldn't get drunk, let alone hungover. His metabolism was too fast. That's when he started remembering everything else and his eyes flew open, the pain from before completely forgotten.

Wally pushed himself up and looked around. He was in what looked like a glass box surrounded by a large white room with bright lights glaring down from the ceiling. Wally knew a prison when he saw one.

_Stay whelmed Wall-man. Gotta find a way out._

There was a small microphone/speaker set on the stainless table next to him and the table was coupled with a stainless chair. Wally was currently sat on a bed and while the frame was also stainless, everything else about it was as white as the rest of the room.

_So my kidnappers are courteous but have bad taste in furniture._

It was really quite the feat, kidnapping him, especially since he'd discovered that his already enhanced speed was even more enhanced than it used to be. When he'd figured that out, he'd guessed that he might have been even faster than his uncle, assuming he could run without the friction and static discharge catching him on fire. Whoever had taken him, had done it by surprise and with how he'd felt when he'd first woken up, they'd probably dosed him with enough tranquilizer to take down three grown African elephants.

_So they probably know about my speed if they knew to use enough to overpower my metabolism._

Wally walked to one wall of his transparent cell and placed a hand on it, feeling its surface before moving his ear close to it and rapping on the surface with his fist.

_Doesn't really sound or feel like glass, but it's not plastic either._

Wally picked up the chair and swung it once against the wall before setting it back down to inspect the damage he'd done.

_Not a scratch._

Wally guessed that it was some kind of bulletproof ceramic even though he admittedly didn't have much to go on. That meant that flinging objects at high speeds weren't going to get him out. He considered trying to phase through the wall, he was probably fast enough to do it now. Wally decided against it though. It wasn't something he really knew how to do since the last time he'd tried had been before the MFD and all he'd gotten out of it was a nosebleed. Add that to the fact he was still feeling a bit off from whatever his captors had dosed him with and he was pretty sure that trying to phase would be a bad idea. Then it hit him.

_Resonance!_

Wally placed his palms against the wall and pushed lightly, before relieving the pressure. He pushed again and let off, this time faster. Wally kept going, slowly increasing the frequency of the vibrations, hoping to find the resonant frequency that would allow him to shatter the wall. Eventually he did, but only too late. The door that led from the white room popped open to reveal a bald dark-skinned man with an eyepatch and a black trenchcoat. But it wasn't the appearance of this man that caused Wally to stop his escape attempt. Honestly, Wally had expected one of his captors to show up sooner or later and he'd been close enough to breaking through that he would have been free anyway. What stopped him was the surprise at seeing who stepped into the white room behind him.

"Peter?"

Peter looked just as surprised but by something else entirely. Wally saw him face the man in the trenchcoat. "Wait, if he's here Fury, then he can't have stolen EDITH. There's no way he could have gotten from London back here in only a couple hours."

"What's this about EDITH being stolen?" Wally cut in, confused as to what was happening.

The man in the trenchcoat, Fury, just ignored him. "Don't be too sure about that Parker."

"But the flight from London is—"

"And what makes you think he flew? We live in a world that is becoming _increasingly_ superhuman. Is it so strange to think that enhanced humans won't start using their abilities to commit international crimes? The Winter Soldier already did."

Wally saw an expression of awe and a little fear dawn on the young man. "Oh my god. He can teleport?"

Wally couldn't help himself. "Teleport?"

Again, Wally was ignored. "For a science student you have a bad habit of jumping to conclusions," Fury remarked. "No, he shares abilities with the late Pietro Maximoff, but we suspect he's even faster."

Now Wally saw realization dawn on Peter as he turned back to face him. "_You're_ the Blur?"

Wally had always thought that that was a rather dull name and he'd been prompted on more than one occasion to wonder why the internet of this world was so unimaginative. Even Beck's name had just been a corruption of an Italian phrase. "It's Flash actually," Wally replied. "Well, Kid Flash."

"_Kid_ Flash?" Fury asked.

_So now he pays attention._

"Hey, I was thirteen when I started the whole superhero thing," Wally replied defensively.

"Then why haven't we heard of you until now?" Peter's curious tone contrasted with Fury's aggressive and skeptical one.

"I was small time," Wally replied. "I stuck mostly to my hometown and I quit shortly after I started college." It wasn't a total lie. "Why am I here?" Wally asked, before either Peter of Fury could ask him another question. "And why'd you bring Peter here?"

"You're here Mr. West, if that really is your name, because you were just caught on camera stealing the most powerful pair of glasses in the world from the UN. Given the Blur's record of quiet civic service in both Sokovia and London, I'm not inclined to think that you stole EDITH, even if you could have done it."

"You think it's the man-Alice?" Peter asked.

"Man-Alice?"

Fury ignored both of them this time and just pressed on. "But you're also here because you're an enhanced human who, until October of last year, didn't exist. That makes you an unknown quantity and a potential threat, neither of which I like.

"Parker, is here to help with the interrogation."

"I am?" Peter seemed to not be on the same page as this Fury person.

"You seemed close enough at the hotel when you chatted," Fury remarked. "I thought that perhaps you might be helpful."

"At the hotel?" Peter and Wally asked confusedly.

"The concierge," Fury replied. "He's one of mine."

"Of course," Peter replied. "Was the thing with the picture even real?"

"Yes. He wanted me to tell you that his son really liked the autograph."

"You gave a guy an autograph?" Wally asked.

"Well I couldn't say no," Peter replied defensively.

"I suppose not." Wally turned his attention back to Fury. "Look, Mr. Fury, whoever you are. You've got it wrong. I've been here the whole time you just must have incomplete records or something. The blip really made a mess of things you know."

"This has nothing to do with the blip," Fury returned sharply. "Before October 2023, before the Avengers snapped everyone back, there was absolutely _no_ record of you. No criminal records, birth certificates, school transcripts, medical records, not even a picture or a social media presence. Then you suddenly appear after Stark's infinity gauntlet gets used, only to disappear again in Sokovia."

Wally was beginning to regret not learning more from Dick about hacking. He'd have been saved a whole lot of trouble if he'd known how to break into official databases and forge official records.

"I want to know who you are and where you're from," Fury continued. "And I want the _truth_."

Wally was silent for a moment. He had to carefully consider his next move. Odds were, he wouldn't have much chance of escape now, even with his speed. It would take too long to break the wall through resonance again and Fury would probably just dose him with some sort of gas this time if he tried. Even if he did manage to get past the wall, he'd still have to deal with Fury and Spider-man. Fury, he could probably manage, Peter was another matter. He could tell them the truth, that he was from another Earth, but they'd heard that story before and it had turned out to be a fraud. If he'd thought they wouldn't believe him before Beck, they certainly wouldn't now.

_Wait, what if this is Beck or his cronies? It could all just be an illusion._

With that, Wally made his decision. "Okay, I'll tell you," Wally said. "But first I need proof that you're who you say you are."

"Wait, you think we're the man-Alice?" Peter asked.

"If you're talking about that shapeshifting Russian that tried to kill you then one, you need to come up with a better name, and two, no. I was thinking Beck or his team." Wally replied. Peter seemed to pale somewhat at the thought of them still being around but Wally didn't give him time to say anything else. "Peter, back at the hotel, what was the first thing I said to you?"

Peter's expression became contemplative for a moment. "You said I shouldn't brood," he replied. "That it wasn't a good look on me."

Satisfied, Wally nodded. "Okay, now since I don't know the real Fury and you seem to—"

"It's him," Peter affirmed.

"The ginger has a good point Parker," Fury put in. "How do you know it's me?"

"It's part of the spider thing," Peter replied. "I get this tingle when something's wrong or when I'm in danger."

"So it's like a spider-sense?" Wally asked.

_Good thing I didn't try escaping again._

At the suggestion, Peter's face lit up as if he'd been trying really hard to figure something out for a long time and had just been struck by the answer to his problem. "Yeah, a spidey-sense," he replied. "I only recently got a handle on it though. After Beck."

"Would've been nice if you'd gotten a handle on it before Beck," Fury said darkly.

"It's not like I'm the only one he fooled," Peter shot back, though his sheepish expression took some of the bite out of his words. It seemed that Fury had been involved in those events as well.

"Okay then," Wally said at last. "One last thing, do you trust him?"

Peter nodded.

"Okay, you might want to take a seat then because this'll be a little hard to believe."

When all three of them had sat down, each in their own stainless steel chair on opposite sides of the transparent wall, Wally began his story. "So, I come from another universe, or at least I think I do. The only other explanation is that someone time travelled and seriously messed with history."

"Dr. Banner tells me that time travel doesn't work that way," Fury replied. "And this thing, about being from another universe, another Earth, we've heard that story before."

"Well, then, I guess that eliminates time travel because where I'm from, time travel _does_ work that way. At least according to my cousin Bart."

"Your cousin?" Fury asked skeptically.

"Well, first cousin once removed. He was from the future."

"But that still doesn't prove that you're from another universe," Peter replied skeptically. Wally didn't like the look in his eyes then but he couldn't blame him. This probably felt all too familiar to him. Kind stranger with superpowers claims to be from another Earth and gives advice to young, lost superhero. According to Peter's court testimony, that was exactly what Beck had done.

"That's true," Wally replied. "But that's the only other explanation I can think of for why everything is so different here."

It looked like Fury was going to press with further questions but Peter, in what seemed to be a moment of uncharacteristic assertiveness, interrupted him with a question of his own. "Why don't you tell us about your Earth then? If it's real then you shouldn't have a problem with the details."

"Well, it's a lot like this one. Physics are mostly the same, though it seems that time travel is the exception. A lot of the countries are the same, but there's a few that this Earth has that mine doesn't and some that mine does that this Earth doesn't."

"Care to give an example?" Fury asked, deciding to go along with Peter's line of interrogation.

"My Earth doesn't have a Sokovia," Wally replied. "But Markovia is very similar and is in about the same location with about the same shape. That's how I was able to live in Sokovia for most of the last year. I had a little Markovian under my belt, not much, but enough and it's pretty similar Sokovian."

"I thought Sokovian was basically Russian," Peter pointed out.

"Not quite," Fury corrected before signaling Wally to continue.

"There's also countries like Vlatava, Qurac, and Bialya on my Earth that this Earth doesn't have."

"Okay. What else is different?" Peter asked.

"We don't have the Avengers," Wally said. "We have the Justice League. They're like the Avengers but there's more of them. My uncle I mentioned earlier, Flash. He and my best friend's adoptive father are founding members." Wally continued to give them details about the differences he'd noticed between their worlds and eventually got onto the subject of his own personal life on the other earth. Wally wasn't too keen on giving them all the details, at least not Fury, but he still had to give them enough that they'd believe him.

"So why are you here then?" Fury asked at last. "Did some trans-dimensional foe of yours destroy your earth before coming here to do the same to ours?"

Wally didn't like Fury's tone. "Do you think I would have been speed building homes for displaced Sokovians for the better part of the past year if I had?" Wally replied acidly. "No, I'm here by accident."

"Then why don't you go back?" Peter asked, his skepticism now replaced with concern and curiosity.

_At least I seem to have convinced someone._

"Would if I could," Wally replied. "But I don't know how I got here, let alone how to get back."

"How _did_ you get here?" Fury asked.

Wally sighed. It wasn't a moment he liked to remember. "My uncle, future cousin, and I were trying to shut down an alien magnetic field disruptor that was going to destroy the planet. We had to run around it counter to its rotation to cancel its kinetic energy with our own. But I was slower than Flash and Impulse so I started acting as a siphon for the MFD's energy. The last thing I remember from my Earth…"

_Is asking Uncle Barry to tell Artemis I love her._

"Wally?" Peter's concerned voice pulled Wally back to the conversation.

"The last thing I remember is being struck by another energy discharge before disintegrating. Then I found myself in this Earth's Arctic region and it was October 2023, not June 2016," Wally finished.

"So your Earth _is_ destroyed," Fury said.

"I hope not," Wally replied. "I'd hate for all that to have been for nothing. I have to believe that we succeeded."

"I believe him," Peter said at last.

"Well you're gullible as hell," Fury shot back. "And _I_ don't believe him. So he stay—"

Fury was interrupted by a voice echoing over the intercom. "Nick, I really don't appreciate you kidnapping my students."

Fury swore.

"Who's that?" Wally asked.

"It's that damned Englishman," Fury said, more to himself than to Wally.

"Dr. Wells?" Peter asked.

"So you've learned to hack our comms now Wells?" Fury asked angrily.

Another, feminine voice came over the speaker this time. "Actually that would have been me."

"Computers are more Renee's thing than mine," Dr. Wells replied.

"I keep forgetting there's two of you now," Fury said. "As if one wasn't bad enough."

"Soon it'll be three Nick," Renee replied. "You're invited to the baby shower by the way. Now about Peter—"

"Mr. Parker is an Avenger and he has certain responsibilities, especially in a crisis and if you've seen the news lately I think you'd agree that this qualifies," Fury interrupted.

"He's also our student," Renee replied. "As such we have a certain obligation to ensure his safety."

"He's an adult. He doesn't need you watching him like helicopter parents, especially when you aren't even his actual guardians."

"Tu quo que, Nick," Dr. Wells shot back. "But I can see your point. I guess I'm just as paranoid as you are. Just make sure to let us know next time, the last thing we need right now is the press descending on the academy asking questions about how we let a student get kidnapped. Letting Spider-man get kidnapped would be even worse. Have a good night."

"Dr. Wells, wait!" Peter shouted, looking like he'd just had the greatest idea in the world.

"Yes Peter?"

"Is Dr. Anders there?"

"Liv? I imagine she's gone to bed by now."

"No she hasn't," Renee cut in. "She only sleeps about two hours a night so she's probably still in her lab."

"Could we talk to her?" Peter asked.

"What about?"

Peter gave Fury and Wally a grin. "I think we might have a visitor she'd really like to meet. Given her research into the multiverse and all."

* * *

And there you have it. I was actually a little concerned I wouldn't get this one done before I went back to work on Monday but here we are and we _finally_ get another Wally POV. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I expect the next chapter to be a week or so out. I've got the whole plot roughly planned out by this point, it's just a question of how much time I get throughout the week to craft the finer points.

-Pandalien


	7. Chapter 6

**Gilded Cage**

Between her attire, her manner, and her apparent lack of need for sleep, Dr. Anders was perhaps one of the strangest people Wally had ever met. But that didn't stop him from being thankful for her vote of confidence when it came to proving the truth of his story.

"It's absolutely amazing!" Dr. Anders looked up from the viewport of whatever it was that she was using to scan Wally's cell sample.

"What is?" Fury asked.

"He's from somewhere else in the multiverse alright," she replied as she pulled on a pair of bulky goggles with green lenses and various flashing lights around the rim and started peering at Wally through the wall of his cell. "But his atoms aren't disintegrating like I'd expect. That must mean that physics works mostly the same where he's from as it does here."

"Except for time travel apparently," Peter put in.

"Well that _is_ interesting."

"How do you know he's from another reality though?" Fury pressed, still obviously skeptical.

"How about you just listen to the expert," Wally remarked sardonically.

"Oh I'm _far_ from an expert," Dr. Anders replied without any indication that she'd registered Wally's tone. "But there is a particle that I've found associated with all matter that I've dubbed the Anders Boson."

"Seems a little full of yourself," Fury muttered under his breath.

Dr. Anders either didn't notice or else didn't care because she went right on talking and peering at Wally through her strange green goggles. "I've developed about twenty hypotheses where that's the particle that identifies which universe the matter is from. Twelve of those have been invalidated by this discovery because they depend on the spin being the identifier while the remaining eight depend on vibration."

"And Wally's Anders Bosons have a different vibration from ours?" Peter asked.

"Yes, matter from our universe appears to vibrate at about twelve thousand five-hundred times the frequency of his but I'd need better equipment to be sure." The mad scientist suddenly stopped peering at Wally and turned her attention to Fury. "Could you maybe drop one of these walls so I can get a closer look at him?"

Fury looked like he really wanted to say no but he acquiesced. Soon, there was nothing but air separating Wally from the rest of the room.

"Am I free to go now?" Wally asked, standing up from the stainless chair.

"Go? You can't go," Dr. Anders protested.

"Why not?" Wally asked.

"You're from _another_ universe. The insights you provide could help me develop a complete theory of the multiverse."

"As much as I'd like to help you doctor, I'd rather not be a guinea pig," Wally replied as politely as he could manage.

"I completely understand," Dr. Anders replied sincerely. "But my understanding was that you're stranded here and you don't really have anywhere to go."

"I'll manage," Wally replied evenly. "Like you said, I'm stranded. So I have to."

"If you come to the academy and help me with my research, I can complete a theory of the multiverse. That would be the first step to finding you a way home."

_Home?_

"How do you know you can get me home?" Wally asked skeptically. "When I first found out about guys like Pym and Stark, I thought they might be able to get me home but one's more paranoid and cranky than this guy," Wally jabbed his thumb at Fury, "and the other one's dead."

Wally noticed Peter wince when he finished and immediately regretted his casual phrasing and abrasive tone. He'd guessed that there'd been some sort of connection between Peter and Stark that went beyond mentor-student or leader-teammate. Peter's reaction only served to solidify that suspicion.

_Surrogate father maybe?_

"Sorry," Wally apologized softly.

Dr. Anders's manner was much more serious and subdued now. "The answer, Mr. West, is that I don't know if I can get you home. But how can we find out if we don't at least give it a shot."

Wally considered her words for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

"Excellent! I'll just gather my things and we can go to the quinjet."

"Hold on," Fury cut in. "I didn't say you could take him."

"She's not taking me," Wally put in. "I'm going freely."

"I didn't say you were free to go either," Fury insisted.

"So what am I supposed to do then?" Wally asked irritably. "I thought we already established that I'm telling the truth and all I want to do is go back home. If Dr. Anders can get me there than good for me and then I'm out of your hair so good for you too."

"You're telling the truth about being from another universe," Fury replied sternly. "I don't know about anything else. For all I know you're here to do reconnaissance for an invasion."

There was a moment where Wally and Fury just glared at each other before Wally broke the silence. "I take it back, you are _way_ more paranoid than Pym. I mean seriously? An invasion from the multiverse?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Fury remarked.*

"Now you're just saying things," Wally deadpanned.

"I think he's fine Fury," Peter replied. "My spi—"

"I don't trust that sixth sense of yours," Fury interrupted. "It didn't help us with Beck so there's no guarantee it'll help us with this interdimensional speedster." Fury turned back to Dr. Anders. "He stays here."

Despite the finality of his pronouncement, Dr. Anders chose to argue the point. "That won't work. All my equipment is at the academy."

"Mrs. Stark left plenty of materials here for you to work with. Just upload the designs and the nano-fabricators will do the rest."

Dr. Anders stood her ground. "Those designs are proprietary and belong to the academy. How do I know you won't just record and steal them?"

"Have the other Wells hack the place and check if you're that concerned," Fury returned. "It was child's play for her to get in earlier. Or just bring your equipment here."

"What about my day job? It'll get pretty expensive, using all that jet fuel to fly me back and forth between here and Willowdale and we don't know how long this will take."

"Stark Industries is releasing arc reactor powered aircraft in a month so that should solve that problem," Fury returned. "Come up with all the excuses you like Doctor, the speedster stays here."

"And what if I decide to just run," Wally cut in. "I'm certainly fast enough."

"You can't run forever," Fury replied with a dark grin. "And besides, your options are limited as to where you can run to. The British still want you for stealing EDITH and the only country that won't hand you over is the one you're in right now."

Wally had almost forgotten about being framed for the crime of the century. He'd been so caught up in the thought that he might actually get back home that he'd stopped thinking it might be a problem.

"Why can't he just come to the academy?" Peter asked. "You could still keep an eye on him there."

"Either you stay here, or my men hunt you down and hand you over to the British." Even though Wally thought Fury was being ridiculously unreasonable, he was certain that Fury could carry out his threat. So, once again, Wally was forced to acquiesce.

"Fine, I'll stay put."

"Good." Fury redirected his attention Dr. Anders and Peter. "Now I'm sure I don't need to tell you that this is on a need to know basis. The fewer people who know he's here the—"

Fury was interrupted by the soft yelp that came from Peter who had just pulled out his vibrating phone. "Sorry, I should take this," Peter apologized quickly before accepting the call and ignoring Fury's grumbles.

"Hey MJ— I know, and I'm so sorry it's just that— You do? Yeah, we don't think he did it so it's probably the man-Alice."

"What did I say about _need to know_?" Fury asked angrily prompting Peter to cringe.

Peter continued talking into his phone. "Yeah, apparently I'm not supposed to talk about that either. Again, I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise. Thanks for understanding."

Fury's fury was still red hot when Peter hung up. "Sorry about that," he apologized again. "It's just that I forgot to let her know that you'd picked me up and I wouldn't be able to meet her."

Wally couldn't restrain the smirk that crept onto his face. "She wasn't too happy with being stood up I take it."

Peter nodded sheepishly. "But my roommate was still there when she arrived so she said it wasn't too bad."

"I'm so glad Artemis and I never had that problem, with us both being superheroes and all." Wally turned back to Fury now. "So do I have to stay in this cell or do I at least get to explore the place?" Wally asked. Despite how late it had to have been and all the tranquilizers he'd been pumped full of Wally was beginning to feel the urge to move. He'd been stationary for too long which was always uncomfortable for a speedster.

Fury eyed him suspiciously for a moment, as if trying to make up his mind. "Parker," he said at last. "Show Mr. West to his room."

"His room?" Peter asked in confusion.

"Next to Wanda, I'll have her help keep an eye on him. If there's anyone he's going to have trouble escaping, it's Scarlet Witch."

"Um, this is the first time I've been to the new compound," Peter said after a moment's hesitation. "I don't know where Scarlet Witch's room is."

"South wing, second floor," Fury replied tersely as he turned to leave the room. "And don't forget to grab his things on your way."

"Okay. I'll make sure I do that sir."

Dr. Anders broke the awkward silence that had descended on the room after Fury's departure. "I'll wait by the quinjet. I assume you'll be coming back to Willowdale?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I'll meet you there in a bit Dr. Anders." He then turned to Wally. "I guess I'll show you to your room then?"

Wally nodded in reply. "But first, I need to get my stuff."

"Where's that? Do you need help?"

"One of that Fury men probably has it and no, it's not much." Wally followed Peter out of the white room and into a dimly lit hall. Due to the low lighting, Wally didn't get the best look at his surroundings. From what he could tell though, this part of the building was some kind of temporary detention center with a few labs and what looked like an infirmary interspersed with the cells.

Sure enough, Wally found a surly looking bearded man with dark hair waiting for them at what he assumed was the compound's main entrance. "Is black leather and surly expressions your guys' uniform or something?" he asked as he accepted the plain brown backpack from the man. Wally didn't get a response, not that he was really expecting one. So he just continued to follow Peter to the south wing.

"Don't mind him," Peter said. "Dmitri's always like that, at least that's how he was when Fury hijacked my school's Europe trip."

"I understand this Earth just suffered a major catastrophe but if we're being totally honest, Fury and his guys could stand to be a little more turbed. In fact, if London was any indication the whole world could probably stand to be more turbed," Wally replied as they continued down the hallway.

"Turbed?" Peter asked clearly confused.

"Sorry," Wally replied. "It's a thing my best friend Dick used to do. We started calling them 'unwords'. Like whelmed instead of overwhelmed or underwhelmed, or turbed instead of disturbed."

"Sounds like it caught on," Peter said with a small grin.

"Eh, the only one that I think really stuck with the team was whelmed. It's just that when I got here, I didn't really have much to remember them by, just everything up here really." Wally tapped his head. "So I started using Dick's unwords more, almost subconsciously."

A moment of silence passed between them before Peter spoke up again. "So you _were_ speaking from experience then, back at the hotel."

Wally sighed internally. "If you're talking about the whole double life superhero thing, then yeah, I've got plenty of experience. That's why Artemis and I got out, that and…"

_And your friends don't always make it back._

Peter looked like he wanted to press Wally on what the "and" was but thankfully he didn't. Instead he said, "You being from another universe actually makes a lot of what you said back there make more sense."

That confused Wally. He'd thought their conversation had been a fairly normal one, given the circumstances of course. "Like what?"

"You didn't really seem to know who Mr. Stark was, or I guess it was more like he wasn't that big a deal to you. Like you hadn't really been exposed to just how important he was, as Iron Man, as an industrialist, as an Avenger."

"I suppose I understood it in abstract. It's not like I didn't read up on things after I gave up on trying to get home. You know, just so I didn't stick out too obviously. But I see what you mean," Wally replied as they climbed the stairs to the second floor of the south wing.

"Well, Dr. Anders can help you now," Peter reassured.

Wally smiled wanly. "I hope you're right."

"I think this is it," Peter said at last, stopping in front of a door. The door next to it had a nameplate on it that read "Wanda". Now that Wally looked around, he noticed a few of the other doors had similar nameplates.

"So all the Avengers live here then?" Wally asked. "They rebuilt pretty fast. I heard the original place got totaled when the purple giant showed up last year."

Peter just shrugged as he pushed open the door and let Wally into the room. "I think most of them are actually empty most of the time," Peter replied. "Most people have their own things I guess so this place is really just for if they need a place to crash or for those who don't have anywhere else."

"Or for Fury's prisoners," Wally replied as he set his bag down on the bed.

"You're not a prisoner," Peter insisted.

Wally smirked cynically. "But I'm not allowed to leave the compound and I even sleep right next to the guard," he replied.

Even in the low light, Wally could read Peter's expression and tell that he knew he was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. Instead, his gaze shifted to Wally's backpack. "Is this all you have?" Peter asked. "I could probably ask Fury to get your other things and bring them here. He probably wouldn't do it but it wouldn't hurt to try."

"Nah,"' Wally replied. "This is it. Like I said, I didn't come here with much, I even had to buy a couple changes of clothes when I got here. I just came with this old thing really." Wally reached into his bag and removed his tattered speed suit and goggles. The yellow had turned brown in some places and there were some holes from the static discharge and frictional heat he'd generated before realizing how much faster he'd gotten.

"Is that?"

Wally nodded. "It was designed to be durable and low friction and to help with static discharge from when I run. But I also used to be slower, and it looks like the material wasn't really able to keep up with my new speeds. The goggles were to keep the wind out of my eyes. It's a lot like my uncle's, the biggest difference is the color scheme. His is red with yellow lightning."

"Can I?" Peter asked, gesturing to the suit. He came over and felt it when Wally nodded his assent.

"I really looked up to the Flash when I was a kid. So much that I wanted to be him," Wally said, slowly losing himself in his memories as his restlessness and presence of mind from earlier were drained by his physiological need to sleep. "Then I found out he was my uncle." Wally laughed a bit at the memory. "I found his notes, tried to replicate his abilities. Put me in the hospital, nearly killed me. I really worried everyone too." Wally glanced back at the suit sadly, not really noticing the sympathetic expression on Peter's face as his thoughts shifted to more recent events. "My parents, Uncle Barry, Artemis, the team… They all probably think I'm dead."

"They won't for long," Peter said at last, handing the damaged suit back to Wally. "We'll get you home. But first, I think you need to sleep."

Wally nodded tiredly and Peter turned and left, shutting the door behind him. Wally stuffed the suit back into his bag and set it on the floor next to his bed. It had been one hell of a day and he definitely wasn't feeling the aster. He didn't even bother to turn out the lights or change out of his clothes before collapsing on the bed and falling asleep.

* * *

*With regards to Fury's remark about invasions from the multiverse, I'm referring to Dormammu's attempt to swallow the universe into the Dark Dimension. Even though that's a mystic arts thing, I just kind of assumed that Fury would know about that, you know, _because he's Fury_

.

.

.

Is it just me or does that phrase work better if it's Batman instead?


	8. Chapter 7

**Past and Present**

Despite his exhaustion and the late night, Wally still woke up early the following morning. The only sign that it was the dawn of a new day was the graying of the sky outside. Wally walked over to the window and gazed out at the open country before him. For a moment, Wally considered trying to escape again, just running off. Then he remembered that there was now a very real possibility he'd be going home soon, if this Dr. Anders was worth her salt anyway. On the other hand, given the conversation with Fury from the previous night and the man's penchant for getting what he wanted by any means necessary made Wally doubtful that he'd be able to just leave.

_Fury's heart might be in the right place, protecting this earth and all, but damn is he paranoid. Not to mention unscrupulous._

Wally's indecision was broken by the loud grumble that emanated from his stomach which made him realize that the last time he'd eaten had been lunch the previous day and it hadn't been that big of a lunch either given how little he had in the way of money. Just what he'd managed to scrounge up doing odd jobs for people as fast as he could without being too suspicious. With a speedster's metabolism, that was never a good thing. Thus, at least for the moment, Wally abandoned his thoughts of escape in favor of a search for the kitchen which, he reasoned, should exist if there were some people who lived here permanently.

Thankfully, his reasoning was sound and he soon found what he was looking for. Wally investigated the fridge and all the cupboards before deciding on copious quantities of cereal and just about all the bacon they had left which, thankfully, was microwave ready. He would have put more effort into his breakfast, probably made French toast, pancakes, eggs, the works. But Wally found that his lack of food and sleep had left him rather drained and so he settled for filling, but convenient.

Wally munched his way through his breakfast as he watched the sun come up in the east. His mind drifted toward Dr. Anders and her offer to help him find a way home. His first impression of her was that she was kind of crazy, but smart. That last part was the most important. It was _that_ he'd have to rely on if he wanted to get back to his family and friends, to get back to Dick and the team, to get back to Artemis. Maybe he'd even be able to help the doctor out a bit. He was a physics major after all and he was pretty smart himself.

_I'll be home soon Artemis, I promise. Then you can kill me all you want for being reckless and leaving you like that._

Soon Wally was joined by a woman with light skin and long brown hair. Even though he only saw her out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of scarlet clothing which gave him a clue as to who this woman was. "I'm guessing you're my prison guard?" Wally asked without taking his eyes off the sunrise.

"Fury asked me to keep an eye on you if that is what you mean," the woman, who could only be Wanda, or Scarlet Witch, replied. Wally took note of her accent which he identified as Sokovian. He'd spent enough time in the country since he'd been here to recognize it. Wally heard her going through the fridge and the cupboards before she spoke again. "You seem to have quite an apetite."

"It's a side effect of the super speed," Wally replied, reaching toward the fruit dish for a banana. "Everything's faster, including my metabolism and your friend didn't let me get any dinner last night."

"Fury's not exactly a friend," Wanda said as she put a couple slices of bread in the toaster.

"So is he _your_ warden too? Or is he just your boss?" Wally quipped, still gazing out the window as he peeled the banana.

"He's a…" Wanda trailed off, obviously not sure how to answer Wally's question. Eventually she finished, "Since Thanos, he's the closest thing we have to a leader. Since the Civil War really."

"Is that what you're calling that thing that happened over the Sokovia Accords? 'Civil War'?" Wally asked.

Instead of answering him, Wanda changed the subject. "Pietro used to have the same problem," she said. "With his metabolism. My brother could quickly overcome being stunned but he also had to eat a lot."

"So your brother's this Earth's speedster?" Wally asked. "Does he live here too?"

"Pietro died. In Sokovia."

_Way to step in it again Wally._

"I'm sorry to hear that," Wally said sympathetically, finally turning to face Wanda. Thankfully, she didn't blame him for his faux pas which meant she probably believed his story about being from another universe was at least sort of plausible. "I've lost people too," Wally said. "Not a brother, but people who were like brothers and sisters."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, but it kind of comes with the territory doesn't it." It didn't look like Wanda wanted to agree, but at the same time she couldn't argue with it. How could she? Iron Man, Vision, and Captain America had all died in what the press had called the "Infinity War" and apparently she'd lost her brother to the superhero business too. "Why do you still do it?" Wally asked.

"Huh?"

"The whole superhero thing," Wally clarified. "It might just have been internet hearsay but weren't you pretty close with Vision?" When Wanda nodded sadly Wally continued, "So that's two people you were really close with who've died on the job. Aren't you tired of watching the people you love die around you?"

"I don't like it, no," Wanda admitted. "But saving the world is more important than my comfort."

Wally sighed. "I thought the same thing not too long ago. That's why I got back into the whole superhero thing, rejoined the team, even if only for a short while. That's how I got in this mess, stuck on another Earth, dead to everyone who knew me.

"There's always a world to save. Maybe if I'd just let someone else save it…"

"But you still helped when Beck attacked London," Wanda pointed out. "And in the rebuilding of Sokovia. My home country is the most peaceful and prosperous it has been in a long time partly because of you."

Wally couldn't help but scoff slightly at the comment. "Old habits I guess," he replied. "Funny thing, that whole filming Peter and Beck on the bridge was a total accident. When the attack started, I ran off to get people out of harm's way without even thinking about what I was _doing_, let alone to turn off my phone's camera and put it away. I didn't realize I didn't have it anymore until everything was over and it just happened to catch them on the bridge during all the commotion."

"It was a good thing then," Wanda said. "That old habit. Even if helping Peter was an accident, you still did a lot of good."

Wally knew she was trying to lift his spirits, but somehow, he couldn't find it in him to be cheered, let alone convinced that he should stick with the superhero gig.

_When I get back, no more heroics, for either me or Artemis. That's what we agreed to six years ago. If Dick hadn't called…_

That was it wasn't it. He'd have to be up front with Dick, they both would. Under no circumstances would they allow themselves to be roped into the heroics again. Of course that would be after Artemis killed him but he could deal with that.

That was when they noticed the aircraft coming into view from the south. "Looks like the Doc's back," Wally remarked as he bussed his dishes before leaving Wanda to meet the woman who was going to try and send him home. When the aircraft landed, not one, but three people came down the ramp, in addition to another surly looking man clad in black who had to be one of Fury's men. Two of the additional people he recognized as Dr. Anders and Peter, the third he was introduced to as Dr. Octavius, one of Anders's coworkers who had offered to assist with transporting and setting up her equipment. Wanda didn't look too pleased at the presence of the third, pudgy looking man with an odd taste in color schemes.

_Probably something Fury told her about "need to know" and all that._

Nonetheless, Wanda didn't protest as Wally helped the three of them move and set up the equipment with Wally moving as fast as he dared with the unfamiliar and probably fragile devices. The sooner they got all set up, the sooner Dr. Anders could run her tests and find a way to send him back to his Earth.

"Anything else you need help with Liv?" Dr. Octavius asked after plugging in the last of her scanners.

"Thanks for the help Otto but I think I can take it from here. Unless you want to help with the analysis," Dr. Anders replied.

"I don't think I'll be of much help on that," the other scientist replied with a nervous chuckle. "This quantum stuff's more your scene than mine. Just let me know if there's anything else I can help with." With that, Dr. Octavius pulled up a chair, signed onto his laptop, and began working on whatever it was he did at that academy in Virginia.

"Interesting that he decided to come along," Wally remarked quietly to Dr. Anders as she started up a piece of machinery.

"Otto's just that kind of guy," the scientist replied.

"You did tell him that that Fury guy probably wouldn't want him here right?"

"I did, but he dismissed it. Said it didn't matter."

Wally glanced over to the other scientist and smirked to himself. While Dr. Octavius certainly seemed absorbed in what he was doing, every now and then he'd get distracted and glance at Dr. Anders furtively before returning his attention to his laptop. It was so quick and subtle that Wally doubted even Dr. Octavius noticed he was doing it but with a speedster's perception, it was clear as day.

_Well, if he plans on coming regularly to "help", I guess we'll see if I'm right._

* * *

After Dr. Anders had declined his offer for additional help with her research, Peter had decided to wander the new compound a bit. He hadn't gotten much of a good look at it the previous night and he hadn't really gotten to see much of the old one either when it was still standing. So this was really his first _real_ Avengers compound visit.

Peter's first stop had been the labs in the north wing. All of the equipment was Stark tech of course. He'd seen on the news that she'd been trying to get the Avengers back up and running. Unfortunately for all the calls for a renewed defense against interstellar threats, her attempts to reassemble the heroes had seen limited success. Peter thought back to Mr. Stark and the Civil War. Mr. Stark had told him that Captain Rogers was wrong and that he thought he was right. That that made him dangerous. Peter wondered if the same could maybe have been said of Mr. Stark. Dr. Wells had a point, the Sokovia Accords had helped to cripple the Avengers and Mr. Stark had been one of the most vocal proponents of the Accords.

_Did Mr. Stark regret his part in the Civil War? Do I?_

Peter pushed the questions to the back of his mind. He didn't want to focus too much on the past right now. He just wanted to be in the present.

As Peter explored, he came across a room with a nano-fabricator like the one he'd used to make his current Spider-suit. Peter thought about what Wally had said the previous night, about wanting to be the Flash when he was younger.

_I can relate to that._

There used to be a time when Peter wanted to be Iron Man. Heck, that time had extended even to just a couple years ago. Well, more than that if you counted the blip, but from his perspective it wasn't that long ago. Peter still remembered the kid wearing a plastic Iron Man mask and toy glove at the 2010 Stark Expo. He remembered how awestruck he'd been when the real Iron Man had thanked him for his help. Looking back it wasn't like he'd actually done anything but to that little kid it meant the world.

_I can only imagine what it was like for Wally. Discovering that his _uncle_ was the Flash._

Even so, Peter got the sense that, in being stranded, Wally had lost something. He'd noticed it at the hotel too, even though he hadn't known the full story yet.

_Wally probably used to be a much brighter guy. I bet he was the heart of their team._

Peter tapped the display on the nano-fabricator and began entering instructions. He did his best to remember the design of Wally's old suit and began inputting the specs, making it even lower friction and more durable than his last one. He wouldn't be ready for it, not yet. Peter knew what it was like to not be ready to go back to being a hero, but he also knew that eventually, you just had to go back. It wasn't just about having a duty to use his power to help others. It was a part of who he was and, based on Wally's story about how he got stuck here in the first place, it was a part of Wally too.

Just as Peter was about to press start on the nano-fabricator to begin the fabrication process, he stopped. The suit's base was still yellow and the lightning was red. After a moment's hesitation, Peter switched the colors. Wally wasn't a kid anymore and if Peter could be Spider-_man_ at fifteen, Wally was _definitely _old enough to stop being _Kid_ Flash.

Peter pushed start. Now all there was to do, was wait. Maybe he could give it to Wally as a parting gift when he went home. After all, Peter still felt like he owed him for everything that happened in the UK.

_This'll be a good way to repay him._


	9. Chapter 8

**Catching Up**

Only one chapter this week. I did finish the next one, but I wanted to post the next few chapters together. Also, there's a bit of a time-jump in this chapter.

-Pandalien

* * *

"I'm sorry, but what is speed-force again?"

Harry's expression was akin to that of someone having great difficulty digesting something which, Peter supposed, he was, just in a much less literal sense. Unfortunately, Peter wasn't sure how he could make the explanation any easier to understand. The third time _hadn't_ been the charm and number ten wasn't likely to be much better. This was not least because Peter was having a tough time with it himself, despite his better physics background.

Thankfully, MJ came to the rescue… sort of.

"It's like this Harry," she said, taking a sip of her drink. "You know how Captain America's shield does all kinds of weird stuff when he throws it?"

"_Threw_ it," Harry corrected "He's dead now."

Peter knew that Captain Rogers wasn't _actually_ dead. At least not yet. Just retired, and old.

"Whatever, you get the point right?" MJ continued.

Harry nodded.

"It does all that physics defying stuff because it's 'vibranium'. Sounds to me like speed-force is like that. It's just scientists hand-waving because they don't know what else to do and they can't just say 'because magic'."

"That's not true!" Harry protested loudly. "Vibranium obeys predictable physical laws, no matter the form. Saying 'vibranium' is _not_ hand-waving!"

"Hey!" The shout of the grey haired, mustachioed bartender drew the attention of their little group. "Keep it quiet over there or I don't care what state law says, you aren't getting any more booze!"

"Sorry, Stanley," Harry apologized sheepishly, wilting somewhat under the proprietor's glare which was somehow only made more menacing by his thick-rimmed, square glasses.

Stanley owned their new Friday night haunt which was appropriately, if unimaginatively, named "Stanley's". It was smaller and somewhat more run down than what MJ had dubbed the "bad pun bar" but there was a bonus in that this was a place that Flash Thompson would never be caught dead in.

Some weeks back, he'd intruded on them at Willodale Bruce and attempted to introduce himself to Harry as Peter's best friend (and PR agent). It had all ended with Peter pointing out that Flash used to call him "Penis Parker" which Flash then attempted to turn into an innuendo prompting the early departure of the three of them. That incident hadn't seemed to deter Flash so they eventually just switched bars.

"Look," Harry continued, drawing their attention back to the topic of the speed-force. "All I'm saying is that everything is governed by consistent physical laws and even _I_, a chemistry guy, understand that this 'speed-force' basically shits on the laws of physics."

"Harry," Peter began, "take it from someone who's actually fought Captain America and seen him use his shield up close. That thing 'shits' on physics as much as Dr. Anders's speed-force explanation for why my organs didn't get smashed against my ribcage when Wally saved us from the man-Alice."

Harry shook his head and leaned back. "This is just like the mutant spider conversation so we'll just have to agree to disagree. Also, you _really_ need to come up with a better name for that crazy Russian who tried to kill you guys and framed the Blur."

"You mean Flash," MJ corrected.

Harry shook his head. "No, _Flash_ is a sad rich kid who has this fantasy about being besties with Spider-man and can't pull his head out of his Twitter feed."

"And what are you?"

"Me?" Harry gestured to himself. "I'm a _not_-sad rich kid who's besties with Peter Parker and his snarky GF and who _tastefully_ posts on social media when _appropriate_."

"Gonna have to tell Ned he has some competition then Peter," MJ teased.

"Why?" Peter asked in faux exasperation. "There's no reason friendship has to be exclusive."

"Exactly," Harry added with a confident smile as he finished off his drink. "But it would be easier if I could actually meet him in person."

"It's not like he can just come down from MIT and have a drink with us at Stanley's every Friday," Peter replied.

"And yet you manage to go to upstate New York every other weekend for the past month and a half," Harry returned. "And on a quinjet no less."

"That's different," Peter defended. "I'm helping Dr. Anders with her research—"

"But you still can't explain speed-force," MJ pointed out unhelpfully.

Peter ignored the interruption and continued on. "And besides, I'm an Avenger."

"Isn't Ned also an Avenger?" Harry asked.

"No." Peter wasn't sure what gave Harry that idea.

"But I thought he was your 'guy in the chair'."

"Only sometimes, like when we're back home. That doesn't' make him an Avenger."

"So make him one," Harry said, as if it could be done as easily as Harry ordered another drink.

"I can't do that!" Peter protested.

"I said quiet!" Stanley scolded as he set down Harry's glass.

One the cranky bartender had left them again, Harry asked, "Why not? Didn't Stark put you in charge? Wasn't that what the whole EDITH thing was about?"

To tell the truth, Peter still wasn't entirely sure what Mr. Stark had meant by the note he'd left with the now stolen pair of glasses.

"I'm not ready to be in charge," Peter replied. "At least not completely, and not yet. I'm still learning. And besides, I can't just _make_ Avengers and even if I did, Fury's not gonna let us fly the quinjet down here just so Ned can have drinks with us every Friday."

"Fair enough," Harry conceded, shrugging. "S how's the interdimensional speedster?"

"Much better now that Fury's stopped suspecting him of coming here to gather intel for an invasion," Peter replied.

"It probably helps that the President very publically refused to extradite him to Britain and actually _explained_ why this time," MJ added.

"The British don't seem convinced though," Harr pointed out. "The prime minister's making a big deal about it."

"Won't matter before too long," Peter replied, grinning. "Dr. Anders thinks she may have the dimensional collider finished by tonight."

"Even with Doc Oc hanging around and distracting her?" Harry asked grinning slyly.

"You know he doesn't like being called that," Peter admonished.

"Can't help it," Harry replied. "You've seen that creepy harness of his with all those weird tentacle things moving about as if they were part of his body. Honestly, what did he expect?"

"I think it's actually kind of cool," MJ put in. "He's got to be pretty good if he and Dr. Model built that out of boredom when they were in college."

"You wouldn't think it was so cool if you actually saw them in the flesh," Harry replied, shivering for effect.

"It doesn't matter how creepy you think they are," Peter replied. "You shouldn't call him that."

Harry just shrugged. "Sue me."

Peter and MJ rolled their eyes simultaneously at the remark. "To answer your question though, Harry, Dr. Octavius has actually been pretty helpful. Even when he can't help with the more technical stuff, I think him just being here helps keep Dr. Anders motivated. It may not seem like it in class and in lab, but she can take roadblocks pretty hard and Dr. Octavius helps with that."

"Sounds like you're shipping them," Harry said nonchalantly.

"Nah, that's more Wally's thing."

"Wow," MJ remarked. "That's quite the change."

"Huh?"

"That first weekend after Fury'd caught him, you'd said he seemed kind of depressed, and now he's shipping your professors?"

Peter shrugged, "I guess he's got hope again. Every breakthrough is another step closer to home for him."

They chatted some more about this and that, classes, professors. MJ occasionally railed on Flash Thompson, complaining about his behavior in their shared general studies classes at Culver. Since Harry was driving, they had to cut him off after that last drink. When they finally thought he was sober enough, the three of them left Stanley's.

"Why is it that I'm always driving?" Harry asked bitterly as he led the way through the parking lot.

"Because you're the one with the car," MJ deadpanned.

Harry didn't reply.

Peter lagged behind Harry some and he was pleased that MJ kept pace. "This dating thing's been going better lately hasn't it," he said, smiling pleasantly.

"Is it really a date if Harry's always with us?" MJ asked from next to him, reaching out for his hand. "I think so," Peter replied as his hand grasped hers. "Though I think he'd prefer it if you brought along a friend or two."

"You know me," MJ replied. "Don't really have friends. Except for you guys and Ned that is."

"And Betty," Peter pointed out.

"Eh… less so."

They continued to follow Harry in companionable silence. Peter felt like he couldn't have asked for a better Friday night.

Then MJ broke the silence. "Peter?"

"Huh?"

"Isn't that the bus driver from the Europe trip?"

Peter followed MJ's finger to the edge of the parking lot and his heart sank as he laid eyes on Dmitri. Fury's agent was swiftly making his way toward the three of them.

Peter had just been thinking about how well things had been going too.

_Should have knocked on wood._


	10. Chapter 9

Sorry for the longer than usual wait but things got really busy at work. Also, I had actually finished the fic yesterday but I was going through it and I realized that the ending may have been getting a little close to treading on thin ice in terms of permitted content. I decided to go back and change the ending as a result but I think the new approach will make for a more satisfying story in the end anyway, though it will also make it longer.

Also, I finally finished the cover art.

-Pandalien

**Conspiracy**

"There's been a development in the EDITH situation," Fury informed him as they left the kitchen area in the south wing where his friends, including Ned, were currently wondering very loudly what was going on. Fury ignored the pestering and kept walking, bringing Peter along with him.

"One that requires all my friends holing up in the compound?" Peter asked, following the former SHIELD director down the hall to a conference room in the north wing.

"We have new leads on who hired the Russian to steal it," Fury replied. "And what they want to do with it which gives us an indication of how far they're willing to go. I haven't heard the full story myself but I decided it would be best to keep your friends safe so they can't be used as hostages. Stark has your aunt and Mr. Hogan secure in their New York offices.

Peter frowned in concern. "How do we know this information is reliable? Who gave it to you?"

Fury shot Peter a look that he guessed was as close to impressed as Fury was ever bound to get. "You're getting better at this. You're right not to trust it just because some sources said so. But this came from British Intelligence of all people," Fury finished as he opened the door to the conference room. Standing on the opposite end of the room was a tall, very neatly kept man. His crisp grey suit matched the color of his hair. Upon hearing the door open, the man turned to face them. His expression was kindly, but serious and his sharp blue eyes conveyed an urgency that Peter only remembered seeing during the Infinity War.

"Mr. Parker." The man's voice matched his demeanor but Peter thought he sounded a little off, like there was more to this man than he appeared. Given that he wasn't feeling the tingle, Peter supposed it was just because he knew beforehand that this man was essentially a spy.

_Then again, so's Fury._

"I'm Patrick Highcastle," the man continued, offering his hand. "Despite what many of my countrymen may think, MPs included, I believe that you're a true hero and it is an honor to meet you in person. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

Peter shook the older man's hand feeling awkward about the praise. When Peter caught Fury's look out of the corner of his eye he decided to get down to business. "Yeah. So Fury said that you know who hired the m— the Russian to steal EDITH?"

Highcastle sighed. "Yes, and unfortunately it doesn't bode well. In fact, my group's findings are the very reason I've come to you rather than try to work things out through more ordinary channels."

_That doesn't sound good._

"What happened?" Peter asked.

"The two of you may want to take a seat," Highcastle suggested, seating himself on the opposite side of the table to them as he did so.

Peter and Fury did likewise and waited, Peter with curiosity, Fury with barely concealed suspicion. Of course, suspicious was a near constant state for Fury.

"Perhaps it's best to begin with the blip."

"The blip?" Peter asked. "This all goes back to the blip?"

"More accurately, the five year period between when everyone first vanished and when they all returned," Highcastle clarified. "As you probably know, much of the world fell into chaos immediately after the initial vanishing. In the United Kingdom, almost the entire royal family and much of parliament were wiped out, not to mention much of the rest of the government and even essential services. This included the police and other critical parts of society.

"During this period, the remnants of parliament and the constitutional system proved incapable of managing the chaos. Once it became apparent that the bureaucratic and gridlocked system couldn't cope, Prince Charles Vincent, who's from a lower branch of the royal family and was last in line for the throne, stepped up and, with the assistance of what was left of organizations like mine, helped to bring things back to order. We did the same in the chaos that followed everyone's sudden return as well."

"You mean the Duke of Cumberland?" Fury asked. "Please excuse my ignorance, I fell victim to the snap as well and I haven't had time to catch up with the who's who of British royalty." As innocent as Fury's question sounded, Peter got the sense that he was fishing for something.

Either Highcastle didn't notice, or else he didn't feel like Fury's suspicion was a problem. "The very same," he replied. "The dukedom was His Majesty's reward for his services to the kingdom during the crisis."

While all this talk of monarchies and how the UK dealt with the blip was interesting, it wasn't what they'd come here to discuss. "You were saying," Peter pressed, bringing them back on topic.

"After the blip, parliament reasserted power and the Duke of Cumberland stepped down. The organizations that had helped him, returned to the service of the constitutional system. But not everyone wanted the prince to step down. There were plenty who saw parliament's failures and contrasted them with Charles's successes and since the end of the blip, they haven't been quiet about it."

"If you could get on with it Mr. Highcastle, it would be much appreciated," Fury cut in.

"Long story short, Mr. Fury, much of parliament is concerned that they are becoming irrelevant. Public opinion has turned against the politicians and made them desperate for anything to bring them back into favor so they can retain their power and we all know that a desperate politician is a dangerous thing. Just look at the prime minister's attacks on—"

"Get to the point," Fury interrupted.

Highcastle's expression was much harder now. He'd clearly hoped to be able to continue his story but given Fury's repeated insistence that he speed things up, he seemed to give up on the idea. "Very well then. Your Russian is a former KGB agent by the name of Dmitri Smerdyakov."

"I assume you don't mean _my_ Dmitri Smerdyakov," Fury said.

"Coincidence I'm sure," Highcastle replied. "Anyway, Smerdyakov was an agent in training near the end of the Cold War, he was given technology by HYDRA infiltrators to allow him to replicate the appearance of anyone. When the Soviet Union fell, he used his skills and the technology to disappear. It was difficult to dig up information on him given how well he covered his tracks but we were able to discover that he's become something of a master thief though he never steals for himself. Every job we were able to link him to appears to have been on contract."

"If you know this much about him already, why haven't you taken him in and gotten EDITH back yet?" Peter asked.

"That's why I began with my explanation of the situation with parliament," Highcastle replied, shooting Fury a glare before turning his softened expression on Peter. "I don't know who I can trust at home right now because it was _our own government _that hired Smerdyakov."

"Why?" Fury asked pointedly.

"Based on what we know, we suspect that the overwhelming majority of _both_ houses of parliament, are planning an attack of some kind to cement their power using EDITH. They want to start by eliminating the monarchy, completely."

"By eliminate you don't mean…" Peter trailed off, realizing that that was exactly what Highcastle meant. Peter gulped.

_Well that _is_ bad._

"The coconspirators have been attempting to hack into EDITH but it seems that Stark's security is too much for them. The entire royal family will be attending a ceremony commemorating the end of the crisis tomorrow. That will be the conspiracy's best chance of achieving their goal as quickly as possible. Since they haven't been able to break into EDITH, it's likely that they'll try and come for you in their desperation."

"To get me to give them access," Peter finished. His eyes widened as he realized exactly _why_ they might want to get those closest to him as well. If they could take one of them hostage, it would come down to a decision between protecting the British royal family and everyone else in the UK and protecting those closest to him. The greater good or his own selfish desires.

_Would I really be able to decide in favor of the greater good if it came to that?_

Thankfully, Fury, who'd only heard part of the story at the time, had thought ahead and decided to secure his friends and family.

"So why come to us?" Fury asked. "Surely there are other people who can help with your problem."

Highcastle shook his head. "Broken and fragmented they may be, but the Avengers are still the mightiest heroes the world has seen. I can only trust a few of my own men, much of the rest of the world is still reeling from the blip, SHIELD doesn't have the resources to deal with such a large scale plan, and for all I know the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce is compromised. In fact I highly suspect it, given how easy it was for Smerdyakov to steal EDITH from them in the first place."

"If they need me to take control of EDITH, then why don't I just stay here, where they can't get me?" Peter suggested. "Problem solved right?"

"For how long?" Highcastle challenged. "And that's assuming they don't have a breakthrough and gain access to EDITH between now and tomorrow. This ceremony may be their best chance, but it isn't their _only_ chance.

"No, Mr. Parker. _Our_ best chance of preventing this takeover is to retrieve EDITH and, failing that, defend against any attacks permitted by EDITH. For _that_ we need the Avengers."

"Unfortunately, Parker is the only Avenger you're going to get before tomorrow," Fury replied though Peter thought his tone wasn't particularly apologetic. Instead it sounded almost like he suspected that Highcastle had _known_ that the rest of the Avengers were out.

_Wait, what about Wanda?_

"I thought Scarlet Witch was here," Peter said, turning to Fury.

"She's off with Strange, something about fixing the timelines after that time travel stunt Stark and Rogers pulled to get us all back."

"You mean timeline," Highcastle corrected.

Peter shook his head and Fury replied. "No, I don't. Strange specifically said time_lines_."

Highcastle quirked an eyebrow but made no further comment. Instead he asked, "What about the speedster? Mr. West."

Peter thought about telling Highcastle that he could try and convince Wally into coming but stopped before he opened his mouth. Something about Highcastle didn't sit right with him and, despite the fact his spider-sense wasn't tingling, he didn't trust him. That Fury seemed _especially_ suspicious only helped reinforce Peter's attitude.

_God, I'm getting as paranoid as Fury. Thanks Beck._

"I'm not sure Wally'll be willing to help," Peter replied. "He's not actually from this earth and he's been trying to get back home. It'll be difficult to get him away from his work."

"Is he an alien?" Highcastle asked curiously.

"No, he's just not from our earth. Apparently he's from Earth-16 and this is Earth-200,000," Peter replied.

"Of course he is." Highcastle's expression was one of someone who was quite weary of being confronted with the truly unbelievable only to find that he had no option but to believe it. "Well, if the interdimensional speedster won't be coming to help and no one else is available, we'll have to settle for just one Avenger."

"Of course, Mr. Highcastle," Peter replied, doing his best to sound as earnest as possible.

"Parker," Fury interjected. "A word."

Peter followed Fury out of the room, leaving the intelligence officer alone at the table. "That thing I told you, about being gullible—"

"I know Fury," Peter interrupted.

"If this is about your spider-sense—"

"I'm not feeling it—"

"I don't care if it's not going off—"

"But I still don't trust him."

That stopped Fury cold. The spy's expression became thoughtful as he considered Peter silently. Peter took advantage of the silence and continued. "Maybe you're right. Maybe my spider-sense isn't _that_ good, but there's so much that's off about Highcastle. Instead of cutting to the chase, he went into this long story about the Duke of Cumberland and the blip, almost like he was trying to convince us of something before asking for our help."

"But you're still going to go with him?" Fury asked, clearly curious as to what Peter had in mind.

"Yes," Peter replied. "I really messed things up by giving EDITH to Beck and we're still facing the consequences."

"If you ask me, Stark messed things up by even _making_ EDITH," Fury replied.

Peter decided not to point out his role in giving him the glasses. "The point is, this is partly my fault and I need to make things right and get EDITH back safely. So yes, I'm going with Highcastle, but I won't go unprepared."

"I don't think your spider-suit qualifies as prepared," Fury argued.

Peter shook his head. "It's not just that. I'm going to have help."

"From who?" Fury asked.

"My guy in the chair and, hopefully, the fastest man alive."


	11. Chapter 10

**Unfulfilled**

The data did _not_ look good. Sure, they were making progress in breaking through the dimensional barrier created by the speed-force. Dr. Anders's theory seemed to be correct. But the data that had just come in from the dimensional collider told a different story. While mostly correct, there seemed to be something off about the theory, or at least its application. Either way, the implications of what Wally was seeing made his heart sink.

"We can't run another test," he said after checking over the data one last time, just to be sure that he was doing the right thing. It tore him up inside to say those words though. Just when he'd really started to have hope of getting home, more even than when he'd gone to Pym for help, that hope was being torn away from him.

"What?" Dr. Anders asked, her head snapping up from where she and Dr. Octavius were working on the collider.

Wally really didn't want to say it again, it hurt badly enough the first time. "We can't run the collider again."

"What do you mean, we can't run it again? Of course we can, and _should _if we ever want to finish this thing."

Wally shook his head. "Not with this data."

"Let me see that," Dr. Anders commanded. Dr. Octavius paused in his work, his curious gaze following the other scientist as she made her way to Wally and took the tablet from him.

Dr. Anders's brow furrowed behind her comically large glasses as she read the datasheet. "I see," she said at last. "It's no big deal though Wally," she said as she handed the tablet back and returned to her work on the collider.

_She really should be more chalant about this._

"No big deal? Dr. Anders, this says that what we're doing is extremely dangerous _at best_."

"Of course it's dangerous Wally."

"To _other people_," Wally insisted. "We could but a crater the size of Texas on the face of the earth and that doesn't include all the weird stuff that'll extend for miles around that as a result of trying to force two different dimensions together, even a little bit. At worst this could create a _world ending_ black hole."

"I understand your concern Wally," Dr. Anders soothed. "But all we need is more data to help us refine the theory and all we need for that is a few more runs."

"No, the risk is too high," Wally replied adamantly.

"Too high?" Dr. Anders's eyes bulged incredulously behind her glasses, the lenses magnifying them so they looked almost insect like. "Wally, it's a one in a thousand chance—"

"That we destroy the world," Wally interrupted. "_Too. High._ We can't run it again."

"What about getting home?" Dr. Octavius asked, standing up next to the other scientist.

Wally winced. "I'm not going to risk ending you and your home just so I can get back to mine," he replied.

Dr. Anders's expression hardened. It was a rare look on her but somehow Wally found it intimidating rather than absurd given how it clashed with the rest of her appearance and manner. "That's very noble of you Wally," Dr. Anders began. "But it's not exactly your decision to make. You may have been a great help in developing the theory and the collider but you are by no means critical. We can and _will_ continue without you if you insist. This work is just too important to leave be."

Wally couldn't believe what he was hearing. He glanced to Dr. Octavius for backup but found that the other scientist, for all his professions of working for the betterment of humanity, seemed to be rather uncertain of what he should do.

_Okay then, the big guns it is._

"Maybe Fury would like to have a look at this then," Wally waved the tablet with the data. "Or better still, since the paranoid cyclops has let me off my leash, I'll just run down to Willowdale and show this to your boss, Dr. Wells."

There was a brief pause, then Dr. Anders's gaze only hardened. "Go ahead," she challenged.

"Liv," Dr. Octavius finally cut in. "He's right." The look she turned on him would have been enough to make _Batman_ hesitate. But Dr. Octavius didn't back down, apparently having finally found his certainty again. "I know this has been one of your greatest dreams Liv, but it's not worth it, not if we destroy everything in the process…"

Dr. Anders didn't look pleased, but she conceded. "Fine. Let's pack up then." With that, she began pulling plugs and disassembling and packing equipment with what Wally thought was a bit more force than necessary. He could understand her frustration though. After all, he was frustrated too.

They made quick work of the lab thanks to Wally's super-speed and his desire to just be done with it all. Once the scientists had departed on the Starkjet, the Avengers' new arc-reactor powered mode of rapid transport, Wally noticed Peter standing in the doorway to the compound at the edge of the landing pad. Wally walked over to him slowly, not really feeling up to moving at any kind of speed now that his last chance of getting home had flown off to Virginia.

"What happened?" Peter asked when Wally reached him, concern evident in his tone and expression.

"We had to stop the research," Wally replied glumly.

"Why?"

"Because it could create a world ending black hole."

"I… I'm sorry to hear that," Peter replied after a moment as he held the door open for Wally, who trudged through sullenly with his hands in his pockets. "But maybe there's another way," Peter suggested.

Wally knew that he was just trying to be helpful but he couldn't think of any other way besides the research they'd just killed. "If you're going to try and talk me into just working through it, don't bother," he said bitterly as he followed Peter back to the compound's common area. "To develop a better machine, we need a better theory and for that we need more data and to get that, we need to run the current machine and I _won't_ risk that."

"Okay," Peter replied patiently. "I understand that, and I'm _glad_ you don't want to risk destroying my world, but maybe this isn't the only way."

"What other way is there?" Wally asked. "Magic?"

"Yes, actually," Peter replied.

Wally found himself involuntarily gawking at the younger man.

"I know a wizard," Peter added.

_Of course he does._

"You really should be more chalant about dropping bombs like that," Wally said at last as he slumped on the couch. "And besides, I doubt he's and _actual_ wizard."

"What do you mean?"

"We've got this guy back home, Kadabra, as in Abra Kadabra. He makes a show of his 'magic' but it's really all just advanced tech. I bet your wizard friend's just like that," Wally explained.

Peter didn't seem to be convinced. "I don't think it's just really advanced tech."

"If the technology's advanced enough, it'll look like magic to the less advanced," Wally pointed out. Of course if Zatanna were here, she'd remind him of his own encounters with magic, like the Helmet of Fate and the time Klarion separated the adults and kids on two separate earths but Wally would always maintain that they were still the result of the highly advanced application of scientific knowledge.

Peter still didn't look convinced but he dropped the matter and instead chose to change the subject. "We can talk more about it later. He's gone right now anyway and I don't know when he'll be back. But, um… I know that this probably isn't the best time, given what just happened with the collider and all… But I need your help."

"With what?"

"We have a lead on EDITH," Peter began. "Someone from British Intelligence told us, Fury and me that is, that it's all part of a conspiracy to take over the UK and he's asked for help in retrieving EDITH before tomorrow when the conspirators are supposed to launch their attack."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"I don't really trust him, at least, not completely. Which is why, as far as he knows, I'm the only one coming to help."

"And you want me to what? Be your secret backup?"

Peter nodded. "If you could," he replied as he walked over to a box that Wally hadn't noticed earlier. "I've already talked to my friend Ned, the 'guy in the chair' I told you about the last time I came up with Dr. Anders. He'll be watching our backs when we're out there. Harry and MJ have agreed to pitch in too."

Wally stayed silent as Peter opened the box and took something out. It was shielded by Peter's back so Wally couldn't tell what it was from where he was sitting.

"Again, I know this isn't the best time, but all the other Avengers are out and Fury's still rebuilding his network from after the blip. You're the only other person I can turn to Wally, and I really need the Flash." Peter turned around as he finished and revealed what he had taken from the box. It was a speed suit, neatly folded and with goggles like Wally's old ones resting on top. Only, unlike Wally's old suit, this one was crimson instead of yellow.

Peter carefully handed him the suit. The fabric, whatever it was made of, felt like it was even smoother that his old one. It was almost like he was holding mercury the way it slid over his fingers. As he held it, Wally remembered the feeling of running, really running. The rush, the freedom. How everything bad just seemed to slip away with the scenery. Maybe that was what he needed right now, a good run to get his mind off their failure. Then the remembered what it felt like when he was a kid, before he became a speedster. He remembered wanting so _badly_ to become the Flash and here it was. In his hands he held that.

As these thoughts and memories ran through Wally's mind, for a moment, he considered saying yes. The EDITH device was pretty powerful and it had to be kept out of the wrong hands. But as much as he was tempted by the allure of putting on, not a Kid Flash suit, but a _Flash_ suit, and being a superhero again, he instead asked, "These conspirators, have they been able to access EDITH yet?"

Peter looked slightly taken aback. It was clearly not what he'd been expecting but it was an important question that needed to be asked. Wally's decision depended on it. "Well no."

"Then why not wait?" Wally set the suit down next to him.

"For what?"

"For more of the Avengers," Wally replied. He would have thought that the reason for waiting would have been obvious. "I mean, I understand that it's not the most _organized_ organization in the world right now, but waiting for help from them has _got_ to be a better plan. Take it from someone with experience, you want as much help as you can get for this kind of thing."

"I get that," Peter replied. "Believe me I do, I was there at the Battle of Titan and the Battle of Earth. But we don't really have the option of waiting. Thor's off world, Hawkeye and Ant Man are retired, and Strange and Wanda are doing some kind of magic time travel thing. We don't know when any of them will be back and just because EDITH hasn't been cracked _yet_ doesn't mean the conspiracy won't crack it eventually, or even before tomorrow. We need to do this _now_."

For the second time that day, Wally couldn't believe what he was hearing. He shook his head. "You're just trying to justify this to yourself. I know you feel guilty about the whole EDITH thing, especially since Stark gave it to you but think about it _rationally_ Peter. How probable is it _really_ that these people crack EDITH before the real heroes get back?"

Peter's expression changed then and Wally realized only too late that he probably should have used more careful phrasing.

"That's that supposed to mean? 'Real heroes?'"

"I didn't mean it like that," Wally replied quickly. "It's just that…"

"What?" Peter asked expectantly.

"You know I think you should stop the superhero thing," Wally began. "Because you have a great thing going with MJ, your friends, school. And this life… you could lose it all. But I also know you won't quit. But you're still _learning_, Peter."

"I _know_ that," Peter replied, his tone rising slightly. "But how am I supposed to learn unless I go out and _do_. It's not like there's a school for superheroes."

_Thank god there isn't. Every kid would want in and that would be a lot of broken families._

Peter continued. "When he was becoming Iron Man, do you think that Mr. Stark—"

Wally snapped then. "But you're _not_ Tony Stark, Peter! You're _not_ Iron Man. You're just a goofy kid who got superpowers and a fancy spandex suit dropped in his lap and decided to go play superhero and it's going to get you _hurt_!" Wally took a deep breath then said more calmly, "Or worse. Think of your friends. Of MJ, your Aunt…"

Peter stood, staring silently at the floor and for a moment, Wally thought he'd gone too far. Tony Stark was a sensitive subject for Peter and Wally was concerned he may have pushed the guy too hard.

Then Wally saw the determined expression he turned on him as he looked up. "You're right, I'm not Mr. Stark, and I _am_ still learning. But I'm also responsible for EDITH and I know that I could get hurt and the people I love may suffer because of it. But they'll suffer _more_ if EDITH falls into the wrong hands and so will the rest of the world. The world _you_ were so big on protecting five minutes ago. So I'm going to do all I can to get EDITH back and if you're not going to help me then fine."

With that, Peter stalked off, leaving Wally alone with the Flash suit.


	12. Chapter 11

**Shadow Empire**

"I know you and the Blur guy—"

"Flash," MJ interrupted.

"I thought it was Kid Flash," Ned put in.

"Whatever!" Harry did not sound like he was in the mood to argue about Wally's codename. "I know you guys just had a bit of a fight but you really should have given him more of a chance instead of just walking out on him. I mean, he _did_ just find out that he's basically stuck here for good. That's bound to put him in a bit of a funk."

"I understand that Harry," Peter whispered back over the comm link set up by his mask. "And maybe I was a bit harsh, but that doesn't change the fact that his heart's not in it."

"Still," MJ cut in, "it would be better if you had more backup."

"Are you saying that I'm not good enough?" Ned asked, the mock indignation carrying over the hundreds of miles Peter had already flown in the tiny jet that was carrying him and Highcastle to London.

"Look, guys, I appreciate the concern, but if Wally's in too much of a funk to come when I ask the first time, even if he came on the tenth time, he'd be more of a liability than a help."

"Because you don't sound bitter at all," MJ snarked.

"I'm not bitter!" Peter defended in a harsh whisper.

Apparently it was loud enough that Highcastle noticed. "Who are you talking to?" he asked from the cockpit.

_Crap! He's not supposed to know about them. Quick, come up with a good lie._

"Um, no one!" Peter smiled through his mask and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Just myself, you know. We've all got that internal dialogue with ourselves. Mine's just… less internal."

_I said good lie._

When Highcastle didn't reply, Peter took that to mean that he'd either accepted the answer, or else he didn't really care all that much.

"Listen guys, can we keep it to essential comms only? I don't want Highcastle to catch on," Peter whispered again.

"Sure thing Pe—" Ned's voice was suddenly replaced with silence.

"Ned? Ned?" Peter whispered back into the link.

"I had wondered why you chose to wear your mask, given that the world knows your identity," Highcastle called back from cockpit as Peter felt the plane begin to descent. "I suspected that maybe you didn't trust me and had chosen to keep open communications with your friends. The fact you lied to me about who you were talking to just confirmed that. Unfortunately, you were right, I wasn't telling the truth earlier, at least, not the whole truth."

Peter gulped.

_Well this isn't good._

"And you did well to have a contingency plan," Highcastle continued. "Though next time, you might consider planning more than one step ahead."

"You—"

"Cut off your communications link? Yes."

Peter readied his web shooters only to discover that they didn't work either.

"I also disabled the rest of your costume's functions," Highcastle continued as Peter felt the jolt of the plane landing on the small runway outside. "But while it's true that I haven't been completely honest with you, this isn't what it looks like."

"Then what is it?" Peter asked.

"The reason I couldn't be completely honest with you is that Fury, and most likely your friends as well, wouldn't understand and they'd try to stop us. To tell the truth, I'm not entirely sure you'll understand either, but given how important you are to the operation, I decided it would be best to give you a chance," Highcastle explained as the jet slowed to a stop.

Peter's eyes widened as he realized the truth. "_You're_ behind the conspiracy."

Highcastle unbuckled and stood from the pilot's seat. "Yes and no," he replied. "Yes, I am one of the leaders behind the conspiracy involving EDITH. No, it's not the conspiracy I told you about." Highcastle opened the plane door to reveal a small mobile staircase and a small group of armed men. "If you'll come with me Peter, I can explain everything, _truthfully_ this time."

"Why should I trust you?" Peter asked with no small measure of hostility as he readied himself to fight Highcastle and his men hand to hand.

Highcastle, for some reason, didn't seem to feel threatened. "Truthfully? You probably shouldn't, but your options are limited." Then the spy did something that Peter didn't expect. He closed the plane's door again, ensuring it sealed. That moment of confusion though was what cost Peter. He didn't notice the button in the side of the door in time and as soon as Highcastle had pressed it, the plane's air circulation system emitted a low hiss. Highcastle dropped to the ground unconscious first, probably due partly to his age and partly due to the fact that he was a regular human. But Peter followed him not long after.

When Peter came to, it was to the scent of ammonia burning his nostrils. His eyes flickered open just in time to see a hand take a small vial away from his nose. He looked around and found himself in a windowless room surrounded by people he assumed were working for Highcastle. A few of them had their guns trained on him but plenty of others were seated at computers, their attention absorbed by whatever it was Highcastle was planning. In the corner of the room a strange man was studying him intently, making Peter feel like one of Dr. Modell's lab rats.

What made the man strange though, wasn't the way he was looking at Peter. No, it was that he was dressed in a skintight suit, not unlike Peter's spider-suit, complete with a mask that concealed his facial features. The difference between Peter's usual crime-fighting attire and what this man wore, however, was the color scheme. The strange man's suit was all white save for a few small dark spots that seemed to be placed at regular intervals across the suit, almost like what an actor would wear for a CGI production.

"Don't mind Mr. Smerdyakov." Highcastle's voice startled Peter out of his thoughts as the spy came around to face him.

_So that's the man-Alice._

"I took the liberty of removing your mask," Highcastle continued. "I didn't think you'd want to be breathing through spandex throughout our entire conversation. I hope you don't mind."

"What do you want?" Peter asked.

"Straight to the point I see," Highcastle lamented. "It's just as well, the sooner I can explain things to you the better. In the short term Peter, I want access to EDITH. Access that my comrades are currently working on acquiring by means of forcing their way through Stark security," Highcastle gestured to the people working at the computers. "But that we can get so much more quickly if you just say the magic words." Highcastle held a very familiar pair of glasses out to Peter.

"I already made the mistake of giving EDITH away once," Peter replied defiantly. "I won't do it again."

"That's awfully narrow of you," Highcastle replied disapprovingly. "I haven't even explained what it is we want in the long term."

"I don't need to know," Peter spat.

"But you do Peter," Highcastle insisted firmly. "The fate of the world depends on it."

That caught Peter's attention. "What do you mean?"

"Let's start with a question, when Thanos's armies first came to earth seeking the infinity stones, where were the Avengers?"

"The Avengers—" Peter stopped mid answer.

_The Avengers were broken._

"That's right, they were broken, fragmented, essentially nonexistent. Those who remained on the 'legitimate' side of international law had effectively given up on the concept while the outlaws were, naturally, on the run from governments around the world. Except Wakanda as it turns out but that's neither here nor there. The point is, thanks in no small part to the governments of the world, earth's greatest chance of defending itself against Thanos was rendered impotent.

"Next question, when Thanos came, where were the _governments_ of the world? Where were the armies who were supposed to protect us? It seems to me that some well targeted drone strikes could have turned the tides for the Battle of Wakanda, or at the very least bought sufficient time to remove the mind stone from Vision and destroy it.

"Yet there were no drone strikes. The most powerful military in the world, the United States armed forces, with bases across the planet and ships roaming the seas, didn't lift a finger. NATO didn't lift a finger. The Russians, the Chinese, the Indians, none of them did a thing. The military response to what was _clearly_ a global crisis was handicapped by the same disunity and petty bureaucratic thinking that produced the Sokovia Accords and hobbled the Avengers. American politicians like Thaddeus Ross decided that arresting good men was more important, placing the petty politics of your republic over the needs of the whole world and none of the other 'leaders' of the world thought it was their problem."

"What's your point?"

"My point, Peter, is that the way we've organized global society, this constant back and forth of bickering and negotiating and scoring petty political points against one another, this _division_ is what threw the world into crisis six years ago. And while Thanos may have been the most recent extraterrestrial threat, he was hardly the first and most certainly _won't_ be the last. If we want to have any hope of coming out of the next one then it is _imperative_ that we be prepared.

"The founders of that school you attend, the Doctors Wells and Octavius, they understand that. That's why they are doing what they are doing, but it will take more than just advanced technology and a better understanding of the universe to win. The right political mechanisms need to be in place to deal with such an event. The world can't go on being divided."

Peter's eyes widened as he realized what Highcastle was getting at. "You don't want EDITH so you can take over Britain, you want to take over the _world_!"

"We want to _unite_ the world. When Thanos came, it was divided, and we suffered for it."

"And starting a war _won't_ cause suffering?" Peter challenged.

"Who said anything about starting a war?"

"How else do you plan on ruling—"

"_Uniting_."

"the world?" Peter finished, ignoring the spy's interruption. "That's what EDITH _is_ it's a weapon."

"Yes," Highcastle replied. "But it's a multifaceted one. And one that can allow us to drastically minimize bloodshed while still achieving our goals."

"You can't really think that the rest of the world will just roll over for you if you threaten them with EDITH," Peter replied.

Highcastle tutted and shook his head in disappointment. "You may be smart but you do have a talent for narrowmindedness. EDITH is useful for so much more than just killer drones and, thanks to Beck's upgrades, holograms. You and Mysterio barely scratched the surface of its capabilities."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked worriedly.

_What could be more powerful than an army of killer drones connected by an advanced AI?_

"Think Mr. Parker," Highcastle challenged. "I'm a spy, what do I deal in?"

Peter scrabbled around in his brain but was coming up blank. Later he would chalk it up to the pressure of the situation because in hindsight the answer was quite obvious.

"I deal in information and EDITH has access to the entirety of the internet and backdoors into every single networked computer on the planet." Highcastle waved the glasses in front of Peter. "This device can do what the American NSA have only ever _dreamed_ of doing. With the information provided by EDITH, it will be a simple matter to carefully direct world affairs in the necessary direction and, only when absolutely necessary, find dissenters and silence them. And it will all be done quietly, behind the scenes."

"But that's…" Peter wanted to protest but what he was hearing left him speechless.

"It's necessary for the greater good Peter," Highcastle insisted. "The world won't unite to defend humanity from external threats because everyone has their own agenda and as you've pointed out, overtly imposing unity on the world will only be counterproductive, hindering our mission. But imposing it _covertly_… I know it may seem like a dirty thing to do Peter, but sometimes the right thing _is_ dirty, like lying to a mass murderer about the location of his next victim." Highcastle paused before adding, "Or hiding behind a mask to protect those closest to you from the retribution of those you serve justice to."

The comparison stuck in Peter's craw. "We are _nothing_ alike," he spat. "And I won't help you establish your shadow empire."

Highcastle sighed. He looked displeased but instead of threatening Peter like he expected, the spy said, "I understand it's a lot to take in, and I don't expect you to agree after one conversation. But I would prefer you come to our way of seeing things sooner rather than later. In the meantime, we shall continue our attempts to force our way into EDITH and you will remain here where we can keep an eye on you. A room has been prepared for you. Aside from being drugged earlier, I don't think you've slept since Thursday night and it's already three in the morning, by your time at least."

"You can't keep me here forever," Peter replied. "People will notice that I'm gone."

"That's what Mr. Smerdyakov's for," Highcastle replied.

Peter glanced over to the man-Alice and watched the Russian fiddle with the device on his wrist again. A moment later, his whole body shimmered and Peter found himself looking at an exact copy of himself. "I'm gonna need my suit now," Smerdyakov said, matching Peter's voice and accent perfectly as he held out a hand expectantly.

* * *

AN: Fun fact, Patrick Highcastle was a villain I originally created for an original comic series I was planning on doing but never got around to (not sure if I ever will, looking back the series plan as a whole felt kind of unoriginal). The character was originally a superpowered human who was basically omniscient and went by the moniker "Panopticon". It's nice that a version of him at least gets to see the light of day rather than languishing in the recesses of my mind.

Anyway, enough of my off topic rambling. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapters.

-Pandalien


	13. Chapter 12

**Peter?**

Wally stood a careful distance from the group, watching silently as Peter's friends joyfully greeted him upon his return. When Wally had woken up that morning, it had been to learn that Peter's friend Ned had lost communication with him sometime in the night. Wally had been treated less than kindly by them as a result and Wally couldn't really blame them. If he'd been smarter and approached their conversation the previous evening differently, he might have actually gotten Peter to do the rational thing rather than hurt him emotionally and induce him to do the exact _opposite_.

"We thought maybe the British spy had kidnapped you or something." Ned's relief was apparent as he pulled Peter into a hug.

"Ye of little faith," Highcastle remarked as Harry and MJ joined Ned in welcoming Peter home.

"So what happened then?" Harry asked.

"We got shot down," Peter replied. "I was able to get out just fine thanks to my wingsuit but I had to web up a parachute for Mr. Highcastle."

"Shot down?" MJ was incredulous.

"By who?" Ned asked.

"The conspirators," Highcastle replied, his tone emphasizing the fact that it should have been obvious who'd attacked them.

"We still beat them though," Peter put in. "Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"We got EDITH but…" Peter trailed off as he held out a pair of broken glasses.

"Oh." Even from behind Wally could tell that Ned was crestfallen. No doubt he'd wanted to try hacking it himself.

"At least it won't be a problem anymore," Harry offered.

"Yeah, it was just a pair of glasses anyway," Peter replied trying to sound cheerful and carefree.

Wally waited for Highcastle to leave before awkwardly making his way into the circle of friends. Harry, MJ, and Ned fell into an awkward silence. It was doubtless that they didn't appreciate the intrusion by the outsider who had so stubbornly refused to aid Peter in his mission. Even though their friend had returned, Wally hadn't really expected them to warm right back up to him after everything that had happened over the past day.

What Wally found strange though, was the warmth with which Peter himself greeted him. "Hey Wally. What's up?" Peter said, smiling brightly as if Wally hadn't thrown his dead mentor's legacy in his face just the day before.

"Ah…" Wally was momentarily stunned with surprise but he soon got to what he'd come to do. "Look, Peter. I just wanted to apologize for the things I said yesterday. I should have been more considerate and not taken my own frustrations out on you."

"Um, yeah." It almost seemed to Wally that Peter didn't know what he was talking about. "That's alright Wally," he replied at last.

An idea was beginning to form in Wally's head that he really didn't like but still couldn't ignore. So he decided to test it. "But I still would have given you the same advice," he said. Peter's lack of expression only served to solidify Wally's suspicions. "And I still won't go back to the superhero life. So you can have the suit back."

"Suit?"

That cinched it.

"Actually, never mind that last bit," Wally added hastily.

"Sure, whatever you say Wally," Peter replied. But the warmth in his voice was gone and as the four "friends" walked away, leaving Wally behind, the two looked each other in the eye.

Wally knew, that was _not_ Peter Parker. The question was how to prove it. The only problem, was that the impostor knew that Wally was on to him.


	14. Chapter 13

**There Goes the Aster**

"Ned, you've been friends with Peter a long time right?" Wally quietly asked the computer wiz as he and his friends prepared to depart back to their respective schools.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Ned replied, his tone conveying the fact that he still wasn't too happy with the speedster.

"Well, do you notice anything, I don't know… _off_ about him?"

"Like what?" Ned asked.

"Like the way he greeted me, like our argument last night hadn't happened," Wally replied.

"Maybe," Ned replied though it didn't sound like he was taking Wally seriously. "Or maybe that's just the way Peter is. He doesn't treat others badly just 'cause he's in a bad mood." Just in case Wally hadn't understood that he was being alluded to, as Ned was climbing onto the Starkjet he added, "Unlike some people who're so stuck in the past they can't make up their minds about what to do with their lives."

As the door closed behind the young man and the aircraft took off Wally muttered under his breath, "I'm not stuck in the past." Wally pondered his predicament as he walked back inside the compound. He was pretty certain that the impostor was actually Peter's man-Alice.

_We really _do_ need to come up with a better name._

But what was the man-Alice's plan? Why impersonate Peter if he'd already taken EDITH? That was another question. Had EDITH _actually_ been destroyed? Wally wasn't sure what Peter had done with the glasses after he'd gotten back, but on the off chance that they'd been left somewhere in the compound, Wally decided to do a search at super-speed. When he did find them, it was in a place that he hadn't expected. They'd been stashed away at the bottom of a garbage can and under as much trash as possible, which seemed to be an odd place for a highly advanced weapons system, even one that was supposedly broken. The reason became clear after Wally took the glasses to one of the labs and began to examine them. To the ordinary observer, they looked exactly like EDITH, but if you looked closely, it was just a pair of custom EGlass glasses.

_So they didn't get EDITH back. No, more likely Highcastle's in on it like the _real_ Peter suspected. Which means that Highcastle has Peter and he sent the man-Alice to hide that fact and the destroyed EDITH story makes it all that easier to lull people into a false sense of security._

But this also meant that Highcastle still didn't have access to EDITH, otherwise he probably wouldn't have bothered sending a fake Peter since he'd rule the world anyway. He'd probably have just killed Peter and been done with it.

Wally growled in frustration.

_I warned him something like this might happen._

There was nothing for it though. He had to expose the deception. But how? His friends were still bitter with him and as far as they knew, it was their friend who had come back from London, not some impostor. And the man-Alice would use that to his advantage. He'd find a way to drive an even bigger wedge between Wally and them, make them distrust him further.

He could try brute forcing it by shutting down the disguise, he was certainly fast enough to do it. But without knowing exactly how the man-Alice's disguise worked, Wally was afraid he'd only make things worse. Fury would have been an option except that Wally didn't know how to get a hold of him and he couldn't wait for him to come back to the compound.

_Dr. Wells._

Wally didn't really know him, but from what he'd learned from the real Peter and Doctors Octavius and Anders, the guy was super smart and would probably be able to sniff out the impostor before too long anyway. Wally decided to try speeding that process up. He didn't know what he'd find when he got down to Willowdale so he decided to pack as much as he could in his backpack, just in case the man-Alice had set a trap for him. There was also the notoriously tough to break security of STAR Academy that he might need to get past to get to Wells and if he understood how vibranium worked then that meant he couldn't try his vibration trick to break one of the windows.

As Wally was getting ready to run south, the Flash suit and goggles caught his attention. They sat just where he'd left them the night before. Before Peter had stormed out on his fool's errand. Wally tried to tear his gaze away from it, he had to get going, the sooner he exposed the man-Alice, the better. But he remained fixated.

_I should just leave it. It's not like it'll buy me anything to wear it. I have to keep my speed down anyway so I don't lose the backpack._

Even so, something kept him from leaving it. So he grabbed it and quickly stuffed it in the backpack along with everything else before taking off out of the compound and toward Willowdale as fast as he could without catching fire.

Later, he would thank whatever it was that had overridden his "better judgement" to leave the thing behind. As he ran south though, he realized that there _had_ been something to Ned's accusation of indecisiveness and Wally cursed himself for not being able to just leave his old life behind for good.

When Wally finally arrived on the campus of STAR Academy, the first thing he tried was the front door. As he'd expected, it was locked. He zipped around to every other door of every building on campus before returning to the front after discovering they were all equally locked. Next, he tried a button that was marked "Visitors". A holographic head instantly appeared in front of him. "Good afternoon sir," the head said. "I am Gideon, the AI created to assist with managing the academy. How may I be of assistance?"

"I need to see Dr. Wells," Wally replied.

"I'm afraid both Dr. Wells and his wife are currently unavailable, but I can take a message or arrange an appointment for you," Gideon replied.

Wally shook his head. "No. It's important, I have to see him _now_."

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

"It's an emergency."

"The Doctors Wells left explicit instructions not to be disturbed," the AI insisted.

Wally sighed in frustration and gave up on negotiating with the robot. Instead, he decided to give breaking the front door by vibrating it a try. Maybe the vibranium compounds weren't as impenetrable as Peter had made them out to be. But no matter what frequency and amplitude Wally tried, the doors didn't yield. They just absorbed whatever he put into it.

"Your efforts to force your way in are quite futile," Gideon commented as Wally let up with his attempts to vibrate the door.

"We'll see about that," Wally replied, kneeling down in front of the box that held the hologram projector as he pulled his backpack off and began rummaging around inside for tools.

"What are you—"

The hologram cut off as Wally managed, much to his surprise to get the panel off. He then began to poke around the insides of the device, trying to get access to the main computer so he could at least _try_ hacking into it to get inside.

As it would happen, Wally was in luck, though not quite in the way he'd hoped to be. Instead of managing to gain access to the building, he felt a shadow fall over him. Wally turned his head to face the bespectacled man who stood over him, aiming some kind of Buck Rogers pistol at him and scowling ever so slightly. "Why are you so determined to break into my school Mr. West?"

Wally swallowed and set his tools down before standing up slowly so that his eyes were level with those of the man before him. "I take it you're Dr. Wells," Wally said.

"You didn't answer my question," Wells pressed, his scowl deepening.

"I need to talk to you," Wally replied.

"Gideon said she offered to take a message or set up an appointment," Wells countered. "So what's so important that you had to break in instead?"

"It's about Peter," Wally replied. "I think he's been kidnapped."

"Can't be, I've just seen—"

"And replaced by an impostor."

Wally's interruption seemed to give Dr. Wells some pause. "How sure are you?"

"Very. I have proof, and if you just saw him then you probably at least suspect that something's up."

"I'd chalked it up to him having just been on one of his Avengers missions and almost being killed because of it but if you have proof…"

"Well it's nothing that's really damning but—"

"Sounds like you're backtracking, West." Wells raised his Buck Rogers pistol a little higher.

"No, it's just that, when he got back he lied about what happened with EDITH," Wally replied, intentionally omitting the argument they'd had and that this Peter hadn't seemed to recall it.

"What did he say?" Wells asked.

"He said it had been destroyed in his fight with the conspirators he was going after." Wally pulled out the pair of glasses. "But these aren't the EDITH glasses."

Wells took them with his other hand and looked them over. Lights seemed to flicker behind the scientist's glasses, causing Wally to think that this was perhaps a more advanced, or at the very least a more compact version of Dr. Anders's goggles.

"I see," Wells lowered his weapon. "Come with me," he said. Wally gathered his things and made to follow after Wells before the scientist called over his shoulder. "Put that back together first." Wally turned back to the still disassembled holographic projector and put it back together as quickly as he could before speeding after Dr. Wells.

_For a non-speedster, he sure walks fast._

"Where are we going?" Wally asked as they entered one of the buildings and made their way through the halls.

"You'll see in a second." Wells stopped in front of a door that was marked as being one of the campus labs. He waited a moment for the audible click that said Gideon was unlocking the door for him. The scientist pushed open the door and Wally followed him in, only to be taken by surprise by who else was waiting for them. The other Dr. Wells, who often preferred to be called Dr. Morgan according to Peter, had been expected. After all, Gideon had said that the _two of them_ had wished to remain undisturbed which implied that they were probably together. What Wally hadn't expected was to see Peter's impostor breaking his conversation with Dr. Morgan as Wally and Wells walked into the room, the door closing and locking behind them.

"Mr. West, do you care to tell Peter and my wife what you just told me?" Dr. Wells asked as he spun around to face Wally, his Buck Rogers pistol once more aimed at the speedster.

With both scientists' attention fixed on Wally, they didn't notice the victorious smirk the fake Peter gave Wally behind their backs.

_There goes the aster._


	15. Chapter 14

**Jected**

"Go ahead Mr. West," Wells prompted.

"I don't know what he's told you," Wally said slowly, hands raised in surrender. "But that," Wally nodded toward the impostor, "is not Peter."

"Then who am I?" the fake Peter challenged.

"That Russian that tried to frame me for stealing EDITH. The one who disguised himself as Fury and tried to kill Peter and his girlfriend," Wally replied hotly.

"_I'm_ Peter," the impostor insisted angrily.

"The _real_ Peter," Wally retorted.

"Enough," Dr. Morgan interrupted. "He told us all about you."

"What did he say?" Wally asked.

"That he discovered who you really were on his mission for the Avengers," Wells replied. "That you're a HYDRA spy, or that you were, before the organization basically collapsed. That your aim this whole time has been to get access to STAR Academy so you can steal our technologies and our research and bring back the organization."

"That's a lie!"

"The fact I caught you trying to hack into Gideon doesn't exactly help your case Mr. West," Dr. Wells replied.

"Just ask Dr. Anders, she'll confirm that I'm not from this universe," Wally returned. "How can I be a HYDRA agent if I'm from another reality?"

"That doesn't mean anything," the impostor cut in. "You've been here for longer than you said."

"Nearly a decade, not a year," Dr. Morgan added. "More than enough time for HYDRA to have recruited you."

Wally gaped at the two supposedly genius level intellects who were apparently being manipulated by a lowly contract criminal. "Surely you have to see how outlandish and strange his story is," Wally protested.

"More outlandish than being from another earth with its own league of superheroes and set of world ending crises?" Dr. Wells challenged. "Strange the story may be Mr. West, but these are strange times."

"What are you waiting for?" the impostor asked, his tone growing impatient. "As fast as he is, he could kill us all before we could even blink. Stop talking and shoot him."

Dr. Wells's expression hardened. "I'm sorry Mr. West."

Wally was too stunned to move before the scientist pulled the trigger on his weapon. But he was even more stunned that Dr. Wells had flipped around and fired on the impostor instead.

"What just happened?" Wally asked as Dr. Wells lowered his Buck Rogers water pistol and turned toward the collapsed form of Peter Parker.

"I just shot our impostor with a superluminal stun gun. I actually got the idea from Dr. Anders's speed force theory," Dr. Wells replied as he knelt down next to the unconscious form on the floor.

"That's not what I meant," Wally replied irritably.

Dr. Wells didn't reply, and instead focused on searching the unconscious impostor for whatever mechanism it was that controlled his disguise. It was Dr. Morgan who explained to Wally. "We both used to be quite the thespians. Acting is rather simple for us."

"So the whole suspecting me thing…"

"We already suspected Peter had been replaced before you arrived to warn us," Dr. Morgan replied. "There were some things that just didn't fit with what we knew about him but they were small. What proved our suspicions, however, was how insistent he was that my husband shoot you."

"Not a very Peter thing to say, is it?" Dr. Wells remarked. "The fact that the stun gun took him by surprise when that sixth sense of his should have alerted him only supports the theory. That and," Dr. Wells paused and began inspecting the impostor's left wrist. "He's not wearing his usual wristwatch. In fact, this isn't a wristwatch at all."

The scientist began fiddling with the device and a minute later, an entirely different person was laying unconscious before them. As Dr. Wells continued to mess with the device, the disguise changed several more times before the device turned off completely and what lay before them looked more like a crash dummy than a man.

"Fascinating," Dr. Morgan commented.

"Indeed," her husband replied. "Whatever this device is, it allows him to blend in virtually anywhere, like a chameleon."

* * *

Peter wasn't sure how long it had been since he'd been kidnapped by Highcastle. There hadn't been much of a way to mark the passing of time in his captivity aside from the small bits of news the spy gave him when they sat down for their regular conversations. Highcastle had continued to try to convince Peter to give him access to EDITH, even after it had been discovered that the real Peter Parker had never returned from his trip to London.

It had taken a remarkably short amount of time for that particular deception to be exposed. Highcastle had mentioned trying to get ahead of it, but the revelations brought about by the imprisonment of the now notorious contract criminal Dmitri Smerdyakov, a.k.a. Chameleon, had quickly dashed those hopes. Ever since that day, Highcastle and his men had been on the move and they'd been taking Peter along with them from safe-house to safe-house to avoid being caught.

Now he was sitting across yet another small table from the spy as he prepared for yet another conversation that was supposed to convince him of Highcastle's cause. "Why do we still do this?" Peter asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I understand what you're trying to solve," Peter said. "And I agree that something needs to be done to stop something like the blip from happening again, but taking over the world isn't the way to do it."

"Actually Peter," Highcastle began, "I didn't come to try and convince you again today."

That took Peter by surprise.

"I suppose I've seen for some time now that you won't see reason but, hope springs eternal I suppose. In any case though, it won't matter before too long."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked. Although he hoped the spy meant that they were close to being caught or otherwise forced to give up their endeavor, the tone in his voice made Peter think otherwise.

"We've almost cracked EDITH's security features," Highcastle replied. "It's taken months but it's nearly—" Highcastle was interrupted by a knock on the door that led to their tiny, dimly lit room. "Enter," Highcastle commanded.

The door opened to reveal one of Highcastle's computer experts. "We've gained access to the device sir."

"Huh. As if on cue," Highcastle remarked as he rose from his seat. "If I were a religious man I'd say that god was on our side." Highcastle made his way to follow his subordinate out before he turned back to Peter. "Why don't you come witness the making of history Peter? A history that no one will ever know happened but will have been just as critical to the future of humanity as the rather theatrical engagements the Avengers used to involve themselves in."

Peter rose from his own seat and followed Highcastle out to the room that housed a few of his more technical personnel and their computers. The subordinate who had come to them in the room handed Highcastle the very familiar pair of glasses which he accepted and placed on his face.

"EDITH?" he asked.

"Yes Mr. Highcastle," the device replied.

"Excellent." The spy turned to Peter. "Perhaps a test run is in order. EDITH, give me access to the Pentagon's servers, I want material at every classification level. Please display it on our screens here. Execute." Moments later the various computer screens in the room began flashing images of all sorts of documents. Everything from simple office memos to highly classified documents.

"Excellent!" Highcastle exclaimed in elation. "Now access the information on every networked computer in the world and begin send the data to our analyst teams. Execute."

"Of course sir," the glasses replied.

Peter looked upon the man wearing Tony Stark's glasses in horror. He'd lost. He'd been steadfast in his refusal to help, but he'd still lost. But if it wasn't enough that his idol's technology was being used for such evil purposes because _he'd_ been careless with it, Peter realized that the thoughts of his failure were probably going to be his last as Highcastle drew his pistol and aimed it at Peter.

"Looks like we don't need you anymore Peter. As such, you're no longer an asset, but a liability."

Peter's spider-sense went off as he saw Highcastle squeeze the trigger.

_BANG!_


	16. Chapter 15

**Rewhelmed**

"It's been weeks and still nothing!"

Wally could understand Harry's frustration. The FBI and InterPol had coordinated with governments around the world in an effort to locate Highcastle and his band of renegade spies the moment Smerdyakov had been turned over to them. Nearly a month and thirteen unsuccessful raids later they were no closer to locating them or their hostage, Peter. Smerdyakov, who the media had nicknamed "Chameleon" had warned them that Highcastle would always be able to keep at least a step ahead of them and so far, he had.

"I get that you're upset," Wally tried to placate, looking up from his work in one of STAR Academy's many labs. "But if we want to find Peter, the best thing for us to do is to stay focused and finish the search drones."

Harry responded with a pointed glare. "I've already done what I can," he groused. "The pheromone detection system is as good as it's gonna get and it's a good thing Peter got bitten by that mutant spider otherwise it would have been completely useless." Harry paused for a moment before he muttered darkly, "Kind of like you were."

Wally set down his tools and sighed. "I know you blame me for this Harry," Wally began. "But I've explained it over and over again as many ways as I can and you still don't seem to get it. Peter got kidnapped because he didn't wait for backup."

Harry scoffed. "Wait for backup? You _were_ his backup. And if you're going to start going on about how he should have waited for the rest of the Avengers you can stop right now. Take a look around Wally. It's been almost a month since Peter was kidnapped and where are the Avengers?

"Look, I get it, you're pretty bummed that you're stuck here for the rest of your life and that you somehow think that being a superhero is the source of the problem but at some point you need to get over it. My friend, _our_ friend is in deep trouble right now because you were too busy wallowing in self-pity to think straight. Bad things don't just stop happening in the world because you stop trying to save it. That's not how it works."

"You done?" Wally asked tersely.

Harry shook his head. "I can't believe I actually said he should have given you another chance. Are all the superheroes on Earth-16 selfish or is it just you?"

The question made Wally's blood boil. "Mr. West, Harry," Dr. Wells cut in, interrupting their argument and stopping Wally from doing something he'd probably regret later. He looked up from his own work on the complex machines they were developing to find Peter and by extension Highcastle and EDITH. "While I realize that we're all very frustrated and tired, it won't do us, or Peter, any good if we fall apart now."

Wally took a deep breath and begrudgingly nodded in agreement before silently going back to work. As he did though, he couldn't help the nagging feeling that there was something to what Harry had said.

After a few more minutes of silence, Harry spoke up again. "How is the contingency plan Dr. Morgan?"

"As good as it can be," the computer expert replied. "I've made the necessary modifications to Gideon so if Highcastle manages to bring EDITH online we'll know immediately. From there it's just a question of who wins the hacking game. Stark's tech or me and Gideon."

As if on cue, the holographic image of Gideon appeared before them in the lab. "Dr. Morgan, the EDITH device has been activated. I've notified the relevant authorities to prepare for drone strikes."

"Did Peter give them access?" Wally asked. It was a pretty terrible thought. If he had then they must have done something pretty terrible to him to get him to give up. But the alternative was that they'd hacked the system which was almost as hard to fathom.

"Don't know," Dr. Morgan replied quickly, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she and the AI she created did their utmost to reverse the hack and gain access to EDITH themselves. "Don't particularly care at the moment." This had happened sooner than they had expected. Dr. Wells had suggested that it was possible that Highcastle would gain access to EDITH before they found Peter, that's why Dr. Morgan had developed the contingency plan. But they'd all held out hope that it wouldn't come to that because they all knew, that if it did, Peter was probably going to wind up dead.

"Dr. Morgan, I'm not detecting any drone launches," Gideon reported.

"Why wouldn't he use the drones?" Harry asked in confusion. "Is he waiting for something?"

Dr. Wells left his workbench to stand behind his wife, reading the lines of code that scrolled past as she and Gideon battled EDITH in cyberspace. "EDITH appears to be simultaneously accessing every networked computer in the world and funneling the data into a kind of expanded database for analysis," he remarked. Then his eyes widened. "Gideon, tell the world governments to shut down all their computers, even their tablets and smartphones! Warn every company with networked databases too."

"Of course Dr. Wells," Gideon replied.

"Why?" Harry asked.

Wally's eyes widened as he realized the same thing the scientist had. "He's not going to launch a remote war on the world, he's going steal everyone's secrets."

The moment Harry realized the same he whipped out his own phone and turned it off though the worried look on his face conveyed that he knew that it would only do so much if the major tech companies that controlled most of the world's "private" data didn't do the same with their servers.

"What can I do to help you out?" Dr. Wells asked as he sat next to his wife and booted up his own computer terminal.

"Not much, Henry," Dr. Morgan replied. "No offense, but we both know that you're programing is basic at best."

Dr. Wells cracked a smile as he proceeded to ignore his wife and began doing his utmost to aid in her struggle against Stark's tech. "Even at a time like this, you're still somehow able to make bad puns."

"No such thing as a bad pun."

For a moment, as Wally watched the exchange, he felt nostalgic. That banter, the ability to maintain levity even when in dire straits was something the old team used to have.

_It was something that _I_ used to have. When did I lose that? When I learned that I was stuck here? When I first arrived? Was it when Tula died? Or have I just been slowly forgetting who I used to be?_

Wally's thoughts were interrupted by Gideon. "I have managed to access EDITH's visual sensors."

Another holographic display shimmered to life and if Harry looked worried before, what the display showed made him look positively terrified. It wasn't for himself though, that much was obvious. It was for Peter. The display showed Peter, staring down the barrel of a gun that was aimed squarely at his face. "Looks like we don't need you anymore Peter. As such, you're no longer an asset, but a liability."

Despite the look of stunned terror on Peter's face, he still managed to avoid being shot, if only just barely. Wally guessed that he probably had his spider-sense to thank for that, but it would only keep him alive for so long.

"Where are they?" Wally demanded.

"I don't have a location yet," Dr. Morgan replied as the holographic image displayed Peter performing wilder and wilder acrobatics in an attempt to avoid the fire that now appeared to be coming at him from multiple directions.

Without thinking, Wally zipped over to another of the lab's computer terminals and booted it up.

_Okay Dick, let's see just how much I learned from you._

As soon it was up, Wally's fingers flew across the keys as fast as he dared. He had to be quick, but if he went too fast he'd outpace the computer and he'd probably hinder their efforts rather than aid them. "I've got it!" Dr. Morgan exclaimed, grinning excitedly. But then her face fell. "But we'll never make it in time."

"Where is he?" Harry asked.

"Singapore," Dr. Wells replied, sparing his wife's monitor a glance.

It took a fraction of a second for Wally to make the decision. Ned had been right, at least partly, it wasn't that he was stuck in the past, just that he was stuck in the wrong parts of it and watching the Doctors Wells trying to save the world had reminded him of the right parts. Harry had also been right, just because he'd stopped trying to save the world, didn't mean that it would stop needing to be saved. "You won't make it in time," he said. "But I might."

Before anyone else in the lab could register what he'd said, Wally had fished the suit Peter had given him out of his backpack, and donned it in place of his casuals before rushing out of the lab and the building, all at super-speed.

Wally had known that he'd gotten faster since materializing on this side of the dimensional barriers, but he hadn't realized just how much faster until he was wearing the impossibly smooth suit. He slipped through the air like dolphin would through the surf. But even as slick as his new getup was, he still ran so fast that the Pacific steamed around him as he ran across it.

It was starting to get hot in the suit and his muscles were starting to fatigue, but Wally didn't let up. Instead he pushed himself to go faster. After over a year of struggle, both internal and external, he felt _re_whelmed. He just hoped that it would be enough, and that when he reached Peter and Highcastle, it wouldn't be too little, too late.


	17. Chapter 16

**Deus ex Flash**

Peter was doing everything he could to avoid being shot and it was wearing him out. He leapt and dodged and crawled around the walls and the ceiling. Without his web shooters, it was tough to disarm his attackers but he still managed to take a few of them out. The tiny voice in the back of his head that incessantly reminded him of his failure, that reminded him that he'd already lost and urged him to just give up wasn't helping any either. He couldn't allow himself to believe that Highcastle had won yet. If he just got EDITH back, he could fix things, like he did with Beck.

_And how did that work out?_

The errant thought betrayed Peter and one of the many bullets he'd been avoiding finally found its mark. "Ahh!" Peter collapsed, clutching his leg in pain.

"I don't know why you insist on continuing to fight," Highcastle said as he reloaded his pistol and took aim once more. "It's over. I'm just disappointed that you never saw the error of your ways. If you had, I may not have had to kill you. As it is, it's fairly clear to me that you'll only get in the way of what needs to be done."

Peter felt the tingle once more as Highcastle's finger tightened on the trigger but the tingle was more than just his spider-sense this time. He felt pure terror. He'd died before. He'd been snapped away and it had been painful. While Peter supposed that a bullet to the brain probably wouldn't be quite as painful as being slowly disintegrated, there was something else about the thought of dying again that terrified him.

When he'd blipped, he hadn't remembered anything when he'd come back. The five years that he'd been dead, there'd been nothing and when the fact that he actually _had_ been dead had sunk in, he'd been terrified by the realization that there was nothing after death. Some part of him still held out hope that maybe that was just an effect of the blip. But it wasn't a very big part of him and that was what terrified him so much about dying again. He'd never see MJ, or Harry, or Ned, or May and Happy again. Even as bad as they'd left things, he was terrified and almost distraught about not being able to help Wally get back home once Dr. Strange came back from wherever he was. The instant Highcastle pulled the trigger, everything would be gone again, this time never to return.

Finally accepting his defeat, Peter squeezed his eyes shut. Only, the bullet never came. There wasn't even the sound of the firearm discharging. Instead there was a torrent of wind and a series of grunts and the sound of bodies thudding to the floor in unconsciousness.

When Peter opened his eyes, he found that all his captors had been rendered unconscious and tied up with whatever had been handy. In front of him, stood a tall, man in a bright red suit with a lightning bolt on his chest with messy red hair sticking out from the top of his head. "Wally!" Peter exclaimed.

"Hey Peter," Wally replied, between gasps for air. "Thank god I got here in time." Once Wally had caught his breath he sat down in front of Peter. "I had to run all the way across the Pacific to get here." Wally's expression changed from one of relief to one of concern and Peter followed his gaze to the small pool of blood that was forming around him. "You're hurt," he remarked, his voice laden with guilt.

"I'll be fine," Peter insisted.

"No," Wally replied. "We need to get you to a hospital." The speedster stood up and made to grab Peter but Peter stopped him.

"Wait, EDITH first. Highcastle—"

"I know," Wally interrupted. "He's stealing everyone's data." Wally snatched the glasses off the unconscious Highcastle's face. "You can shut it down on the way." Wally made to lift Peter again after handing him the glasses, only to collapse himself.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Wally replied. "I guess I really overdid it this time." The redhead began patting down the various parts of his suit as if he was searching for something but then he stopped as if he realized what he was doing made no sense. "Right, I almost forgot, this isn't my old suit so no cupboards and no snacks."

"Cupboards?" Peter asked as he put the EDITH glasses on.

"It's what I called the little compartments I had in my old suit where I kept snacks. It was to deal with the whole high metabolism problem." Wally suddenly looked very tired to Peter.

Peter nodded his understanding before commanding EDITH to reverse everything that Highcastle had done. It wasn't one-hundred percent effective. Some of his agents around the world had still managed to make off with a fair amount of data, but it was better than nothing.

"I think there's a kitchen somewhere," Peter offered.

Wally nodded and began to search for it at what Peter thought was _less_ than normal speed. When the speedster returned, it was with a couple armfuls of quick and easy snacks. He set them down and pulled one of the belts and a scrap of clothing from one of the fallen spies and used them to keep pressure on Peter's leg where he'd been shot. "That's just 'till I get refueled," Wally explained. "Then I can get you to an actual hospital." Peter nodded.

An awkward silence followed as Wally made his way through the food as quickly and methodically as he could. It was only when Wally had almost finished eating that he spoke again. "I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" Peter asked.

"You know what for," Wally replied.

Peter did know what for. But he didn't think that now was really the time to be revisiting their last conversation. Wally clearly had other ideas.

"I was wrong to say those things and even if I did come help in the end, that doesn't change the past and we can't just pretend it didn't happen."

"Why _did_ you change your mind?" Peter asked.

"Your friends," Wally replied, smirking around a mouthful of protein bar. "And your teachers." Peter's confusion must have shown on his face because Wally elaborated. "Ned and Harry pointed out to me that I had some… issues, that I wasn't really dealing with. And when I realized that, I felt guilty.

"But I also realized that you kinda reminded me of me and my friends. When we started the team, it was just me, Dick, and Kaldur. I said you were just a goofy kid, but so were we, once. Hell, Dick started out even younger than I did. But that didn't stop us from trying to save the day over and over again and as many times as we lost, we also won.

"I remembered all that and I asked myself, 'What happened to _that_ Wally?'"

Wally paused and gazed pensively at the far wall, his eyes unfocused.

"So? What happened to him?" Peter asked eventually, drawing his friend out of his reverie.

"He got stuck in all the wrong parts of the past and present. He—_I_ got so busy thinking about friends I'd lost that I forgot that they wouldn't have wanted me to get all mopey and become an ass. They'd have wanted me to carry on, to start over and look to the future. Like you did."

"_Me_?" Peter asked.

"Yeah. You got outed as Spider-man and while that's not quite on the level of being permanently stranded from home, it's still pretty big. It's not just that guys like Highcastle now knew who you were, but everyone you helped put away…"

The thought made Peter shiver. While he was pretty sure that Mr. Toomes wouldn't do anything to him or his loved ones if he got out of prison, after all, he already knew who Peter was, there were some other less than savory characters who he'd helped catch who would probably jump at the chance.

"But you dealt with it," Wally continued. "Actually accepted it and moved on. I didn't.

"So yeah. I'm sorry I let my sour attitude get in the way of doing the right thing."

The two were silent a bit longer until Wally finally finished eating. "Okay, let's get you to that hospital now," he said. "I can't go full speed but I should be able to do at least that before I finally collapse."

Peter knew that Wally had tried to make it sound like a joke, but as the speedster scooped him up, Peter also realized that it was only half a joke. "Thanks," Peter said.

"Don't mention it," Wally replied as he shifted Peter's weight before taking off again. The instant they made it into the nearest ER, the speedster did indeed collapse from exhaustion and Peter followed not long after as he was wheeled around on a gurney. Though in Peter's case, at least, it was partly out of relief.


	18. Chapter 17

**Future**

Wally turned from the scene playing out on the TV. Yet another raid had been conducted on a suspected hideout of Highcastle's but without any results. Within the first day of the attempted shadow takeover, hundreds of his coconspirators had been discovered and arrested worldwide. Now though that number had slowed to a trickle. It was to be expected, once the element of surprise had been lost. The people they were pursuing were skilled in the art of cloak and dagger. After all, they all used to spy on people for a living. The fact that some of the ones who'd gotten away had untold quantities of compromising data despite the best efforts of everyone who fought the takeover certainly didn't help things. It was quite likely that some of them had taken to using that data to their advantage, blackmailing people in positions of power to keep investigators off their backs. But at least they were on the run and that counted for something.

Wally looked at Peter who was dressed very nicely for the occasion. They'd both recovered since their hospital visit in Singapore, though Peter still had a little bit of a limp.

"You ready," Wally asked.

"Not really," Peter replied nervously. "Public speaking was never really my thing."

"I thought you did academic decathlon," Wally pointed out.

"That was _way_ different," Peter replied. "That's basically just answering a bunch of rapid-fire questions, not giving a _speech_."

"Fair enough," Wally conceded. "You'll do fine." Wally grabbed Peter's shoulder encouragingly.

"Thanks." Peter smiled.

"Though, something tells me you wanted me here for more than just moral support."

Peter flashed a wry grin. "You'll see. Now come on, it's time to face the press."

Peter's words sounded more confident than he looked but Wally didn't let on. It wouldn't do for him to stammer his way nervously through his speech.

The two of them made their way down the hall to the press room in the east wing of the compound. As soon as Peter pushed the door open, Wally's ears were assaulted by the chatter of reporters and the barrage of questions that were being thrown at them. Though some pertained to more current events, Wally could also make out the old refrains that people had been asking Spider-man since the blip.

"What's going to be done with the EDITH device now that it's been recovered?"

"Mr. Parker, will you be taking a more active role in rebuilding the Avengers?"

"Do you care to comment on Tony Stark's decision to create a weapon that's threatened the world twice now? Do you think he was irresponsible?"

"Will you be taking over the Avengers for Iron Man?"

"Is the Blur going to join the Avengers now?"

Wally could tell that it wasn't doing anything for Peter's nerves but he looked like he was ready for the attention this time. He had moved on from the double life.

"Excuse me," Peter began quietly. When the rabble didn't settle, he cleared his throat and spoke more loudly into the microphone. "Your questions will be answered, but if you could wait until I'm finished speaking that would be…" The room quieted down. "That would be great."

Peter took a deep breath and pulled out a set of folded papers from his suit's pocket.

"The first time I met Mr. Stark, he was recruiting me to help him catch Captain Rogers during the Avengers Civil War. I really looked up to him, to the point that I didn't think he could do any wrong. So I didn't question whether or not we were doing the right thing, because _of course_ Iron Man would do the right thing."

Wally saw Peter look up from his speech with a look of growing confidence.

"I've always known that people can think they're doing the right thing but actually do the wrong. We're all the heroes of our own stories, right? But I didn't really understand that that applied to Mr. Stark as much as anyone else until recently. I'm not sure if what we did during the Civil War was right and I think that after it was over, Mr. Stark was just as unsure.

"It wasn't long after I got back from Berlin that I made a very big mistake. I tried to justify myself to Mr. Stark in classic teenager fashion by telling him that I was just trying to be like him.

"He said that he wanted me to be better.

"Mr. Stark was human, just like the rest of us and so he was _flawed_ just like the rest of us. I don't know why he made EDITH or why he gave it to me, especially since recent events have shown that neither were very good decisions. I'm not sure if I'm better than Mr. Stark like he wanted me to be, but I'm trying. And I _am_ sure that I am _not_ Iron Man.

"Mr. Stark left some pretty big shoes to fill and I'm not ready to fill them, at least not yet. So in the meantime, with the permission of the Avengers' main backer, Mrs. Stark, they'll be filled by the newest Avenger. Not the Blur, but the _Flash_, Wally West."

Wally started. "What?" The look on Peter's face was part mischievous, part encouraging.

The crowd of reporters almost started up again at that but Peter picked back up before they could.

"And while I'm learning to be what Mr. Stark wanted for me, I'll keep being Peter Parker of STAR Academy and, when I can, your friendly neighborhood Spider-man."

_So that's why he brought me along._

Wally smiled back at Peter.

_Sly, I'll give you that._

"As for EDITH…" Peter pulled the pair of glasses from the same pocket he'd pulled his speech from and he put them on. Wally realized just how miraculous it had been that the Singaporean government hadn't managed to get their hands on it while they'd been hospitalized. Sure, they looked like an ordinary pair of glasses to anyone who wasn't familiar with their background, but it was still a wonder they hadn't been stolen while he and Peter had been unconscious.

Peter spoke clearly, not just for the sake of Stark's AI, but for the sake of everyone who was watching. "EDITH, delete all files and subroutines associated with your program," he commanded.

"Peter, are you asking me to self-destruct?" EDITH asked.

"Yes EDITH." Peter's reply elicited a collective gasp from the gathered reporters.

"Please confirm execution of software self destruct."

"Confirm."

"Self destruct initiated, goodbye Peter."

There was a moment of beeping and flashing lights from the glasses and then they went dead. Then Peter pulled them off and snapped them in two before handing the halves to Wally.

Wally immediately knew what Peter wanted him to do. Wally held the fist with the glasses in front of him and began to vibrate his hand. Moments later, the glasses had been vibrated into dust.

Despite the obvious impact of what they had just done, Wally was still surprised by the stunned silence of the audience. It seemed that no one had expected Iron Man's chosen successor, someone who admired the man to the point of hero worship, to so completely destroy one of his gifts so nonchalantly. But Wally knew that Peter had put a lot of thought into it and what he'd done was nothing, if not chalant.

"Mr. Highcastle was right about us needing to be prepared for what's out there," Peter continued, taking advantage of the silence. "But he was wrong about how to do it. And it's clear that as much as we admired him, Mr. Stark was wrong to create EDITH. It's our job now to find a better way to carry us into and prepare for the future."

Peter paused, though this time it seemed to be less for effect and more because he'd run out of things to say. "And uh… I guess we'll take questions now."

Like throwing a switch, the cacophony of the press mob resumed and Peter and Wally did their best to answer everything that was asked. When all was said and done, Wally sat alone in his room in the compound, his Flash suit and goggles draped over the back of the desk chair. He gazed out the window into the countryside and for the first time since he'd rematerialized at the North Pole, he really considered his place in this world. He was going to be leading the Avengers, if only temporarily. That was a big calling and he wasn't sure he was up to the task. But he'd have to try anyway. Bad things hadn't stopped happening in the world just because he'd stopped trying to save it and they wouldn't stop happening just because the Avengers were barely even an organization anymore. There were people depending on him again.

And then there were the people back home. They all probably thought he was dead, and while he'd certainly figured out his path forward in this world. He wasn't going to stop trying to get back home to his. It might just take a while longer than he'd first hoped. Wally smirked to himself as he rose and got ready for bed.

_And when he finally shows up, I guess we'll see if this Dr. Strange guy is a bona fide wizard like Peter says._

With that though, Wally collapsed into bed and for the first time in over a year, he slept peacefully.

* * *

So that's the story. I'm considering writing other fanfics in this same continuity but they'll be coming after I've finished my HP project if I do and I think I might rewrite this one as well. As much as I like how it turned out, there are some aspects that I think could use a little more refinement. Anyway, hopefully I post another fic here before another couple of years have gone by.

Until next time.

-Pandalien


End file.
